By Pete Mooney
Education funding in Vermont has reached a crisis point this year, both at the state and local level. Recently, the Vermont Department of Taxes warned of a potential 18.5% property tax increase driven largely by school budgets. Locally, the HUUSD Board has proposed a budget of over $50 million for FY25, nearly 12% greater than last year. A bond for $70 million bond is proposed for the high school.
Should both the state increase and local proposals come to pass, Valley residents would be facing a double whammy tax hit. Twenty-five percent or greater property tax increases? Maybe. Numbers get thrown around and we’re expected to vote on these proposals at Town Meeting without thorough data on how taxpayers would be affected overall.
Vermont spends significantly more per pupil than other states, we have more staff and teachers, and our educational outcomes are worsening compared to other states. We are not getting value for money.
A few facts. The state has roughly 280 separate school districts serving about 83,000 students K though 12. That’s less than an average 300 students per district. Take out Chittenden County and the average is even smaller. According to the 2023 Report on Vermont’s Education Financing, published by the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office, pupils per total staff is 4.4 and per teacher is 10.1. The national averages are 7.5 and 15.3. Student headcount has been declining about 1% a year since at least 2005. Cost per pupil has increased annually to $23,299 per pupil in the 2020-2021 school year. The U.S. average is $14,360. Vermont is the nation’s second highest cost per pupil state. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores have been largely flat over this same period, but we are losing ground compared to the national average.
We need a sound education system and schools are being asked to perform activities that were never in their original mandate. But continuing to shovel money at a broken system is not affordable or sustainable. The state has taken steps to try and improve the system, but they have been more carrot than stick. At this point, radical steps are required.
Here’s a list of steps the state and the HUUSD Board could consider:
- Student to staff and teacher ratios should immediately be brought in line with national averages. No budget for FY25 should be approved unless the ratios are at the national average. This is how I will evaluate the HUUSD budget come Town Meeting Day.
- Overhauling the current state funding legislation should be prioritized this session. The current mechanism offers no incentive for a district to cut their budget. In fact, the incentive is to increase the budget as much as possible to try and get a bigger slice of the state’s allocation pie.
- Our goal should be a county-based school district system. This would get the state down to 14 school districts versus the current number. Administrative overhead would be significantly reduced and there’d be a lot less school board bureaucracy.
- We need a state-wide schools infrastructure assessment. Overall, the state is carrying fixed assets built for many more students than we have today. Maintenance has been deferred, existing maintenance costs are high, and investments are being contemplated on a piecemeal basis, like the Harwood High School plan. The education infrastructure needs to be “right sized” for the expected student population over the next 10 years, not for the last 10.
- Teachers need to be paid a decent wage. It is arguably one of the most important jobs a person can choose to do. The state is right at the national average of $62,000 for teacher pay, but legacy retirement benefits are a concern. The current teacher pension liability is about $3.38 billion ($1.513 billion of which is unfunded). VSTRS legislation must be changed so that new teacher hires going forward have defined contribution rather than defined benefits plans. The state cannot afford the existing plan and a strategy for managing the current liability is critical. Some kind of Liability Driven Investment (LDI) approach may be an option.
- The state should create an outsourcing entity to provide all back-office services, including things like maintenance, custodial, financial and accounting, purchasing, etc. This would give the state greater leverage with suppliers, common technology platforms, and lower costs compared to the high cost, every district does their own thing approach.
- Locally, HUUSD should consolidate elementary schools. The district currently has five elementary schools that support about 980 students, or less than 200 students per school. Average elementary school size in the U.S. is around 500. While we all like small, close and local schools, the cost is prohibitive.
- The state cannot afford to subsidize individuals who chose to not send their children to existing public schools. We should do away with voucher or school choice initiatives until the existing financial situation is resolved. People always have the right to send their children to private school should they so choose.
These ideas are illustrative. I know they will not be well received and will probably get lots of negative reactions. Also, I’m not criticizing the hard-working people that show up every day to educate our children. But both the overall school system and the funding mechanism are badly broken. This has caused a financial crisis and it is time for radical action. Consider the impact of these proposed property tax increases. Many people will be unable to pay. Our next crisis will be defaults and local deficits because people can’t afford the increase. We keep talking about attracting more people to the state. Our high-cost education system certainly works against that desire. Our Legislature needs to address this crisis urgently and take decisive action to reduce the cost education in Vermont.
Mooney lives in Waitsfield.
