Vermont is now officially the second most expensive state in terms of educating kids in public schools. We spend very close to $25,000 per kid per year. Most measurements on student proficiency are trending down not up. The proposed near 20% increase in property taxes could make us the most expensive state next year.
This should outrage taxpayers as they are the ones getting shortchanged. If you take the time to look into classrooms what you will find is we have created a giant administrative mess. There is no discipline and most classrooms are dominated by a handful of kids that don’t really want be there. We have also pushed the dynamic range of students to the widest point in history so that no longer can one teacher handle a classroom. Kids can behave however they want, phones are everywhere and a good portion of parents are not actually parenting their kids.
It used to be that a parent’s job was to be the primary teacher in their child’s life. It required you pay attention and deliver a well behaved child to the public school ready to learn. This is not the case currently. Those children who are ready to learn sit and watch the spectacle unfold every day. All the teacher’s time is spent dealing with behavior issues and learning is secondary.
The kids most receptive to learning are shortchanged. They are the biggest demographic being underserved in this overpriced mess we call public education. The solution is always the same, more funding. There is no accountability and since we spend very close to 90% of funding on salaries and benefits for employees.
All the buildings are falling apart. I was under the impression that my property tax dollar was supposed to be partially used to maintain the facilities. This is also not the case anymore as school districts forgo planning and budgeting for improvements, and instead try to get the community to borrow money with a bond to fund improvements. A school bond is just code for local tax increase because we spent all the money we were supposed to use for building maintenance.
The solution is very simple, but very unpalatable to the NEA. We have to cut the headcount of employees in the school system. Next we have to put in place a behavior requirement so that teachers can teach and not deal with out of control students. Disruptive kids have to be removed from the classroom and put back in their parents’ hands. We also need a charter change so that 25% of all school money goes into the buildings. We can’t allow all the money to be spent and defer all maintenance until the building becomes a mess.
Clearly the administrators running things miss the point. We need to focus on educating the majority of kids efficiently and this can only happen if we control the environment. It used to hurt to be stupid and because of that we had less stupid. When we normalize chaos it can only cost more and be less effective. Every school budget needs to be voted down to send a message. We are way way off the mark right now. Business as usual is not acceptable anymore.
Robert Gifford
Starksboro, VT
