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By Michael Bielawski
Lawmakers from the House and Senate education committees and the Senate Finance Committee met at the Statehouse on Wednesday to discuss the proposal by the administration to generally overhaul the current financing system.
For Vermont’s prior school year, public education costs rose 18% but taxpayers only saw 13% because temporary funds bought it down, next year those sources will not be available.
When the newly appointed Education Secretary Zoe Saunders got into the complexities of Vermont’s current education funding systems – which she emphasized is very different from other states – she suggested that an overhaul may be in order.
“So as the governor signaled in his inaugural address, he’s proposing a shift to a new funding formula,” she told lawmakers. “And the rationale for that is to really address and build upon what Vermonters value most about our education system and expand on that concept of equitable funding.”
She addressed the shortcomings of the current and convoluted system.
“We have been partnering with, education funding experts, who have experience with many different states with them, and they will attest to the fact that Vermont is very unique,” she said. “… And, the reason that it’s unique is it’s designed to promote taxpayer capacity in response to the Brigham decision.”
Cart before the horse?
Saunders said while other states clarify the amount of funds they have to work with before they discuss spending, Vermont’s system works the other way around. This means schools determine what they want, and then taxpayers via property taxes and other sources must make up the difference.
“The very simple answer is they receive what they request subject to voter approval,” Saunders explained. “That’s very different than how other states fund their education system. Most states would determine upfront, here’s the amount of funding that we have available, for education based on an understanding of how to deliver quality, and then districts would operate within those budget parameters.”
Vermont’s system puts spending first and collecting funds second.
“Within our system, a school school district will create their budget. They will look at the data. They will engage their stakeholders to identify how to build a budget to meet their needs. They will then take that to the voters. When the voters approve that amount, the state guarantees that funding.”
An unintended consequence of this system she said is when poor communities vote for less expenditures and expect their taxes to go down, they often find they still went up. Also, communities can vote for more and see taxes fall, which critics say creates a disconnect between the voter and the consequence.
“And so you’ll see that different districts will make different decisions around their budgets and, also that will translate into different per people spending, across districts,” she said.
She added, “So what we’re seeing is that our lower-income communities are relying a lot on the federal dollars to be able to supplement and provide additional resources and support.”
She noted it is not just students who see differences in education services, but staff as well. There is a “tremendous teacher pay disparity across the state” and she noted neighboring states may attract good teachers out of Vermont due in part to this situation.
She added, “Overall, there’s a lack of budgeting control for the state. So as we described, your property taxes can go up in a district that has made significant cuts or has relatively low spending just because of how they spend the dollars are cooled on chip on the entire system.
“… And I think we’ve heard that, traveling or listening or in short, it’s really hard, for, voters to understand how their vote will impact property taxes.”
This is while Vermont is seeing fewer students enroll in public schools.
“And so we have spoken about the decline in enrollment statewide,” she said. “Over the past twenty years, we’ve seen an increase of twenty percent decline in K-12 enrollment.”
The full meeting which is about one hour and 20 minutes can be seen here. The video and transcript can be found together at GoldenDomeVt.
Constituents may contact committee members (click link on name for bio, party affiliation, etc.) with comments, questions and information at the following email addresses:
House Education
Peter Conlon, Cornwall, Chair, pconlon@leg.state.vt.us
Chris Taylor, Madison, Vice Chair, cataylor@leg.state.vt.us
Erin Brady, Chittenden District 2, Chittenden District 2, Ranking Member, ebrady@leg.state.vt.us
Jana Brown, Richmond, Clerk, jbrown@leg.state.vt.us
Joshua Dobrovich, Orange-3, jdobrovich@leg.state.vt.us
Leanne Harple, Orleans 4, lharple@leg.state.vt.us
Robert Hunter, Bennington-4, rhunter@leg.state.vt.us
Emily Long, Burlington, elong@leg.state.vt.us
Kate McCann, Washington-4, kmccann@leg.state.vt.us
Beth Quimby, Caledonia-3, bquimby@leg.state.vt.us
Casey Toof, St. Albans City, ctoof@leg.state.vt.us
Senate Education
Seth Bongartz, Manchester, Chair, sbongartz@leg.state.vt.us
David Weeks, Proctor, Vice Chair, dweeks@leg.state.vt.us
Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Montpelier, kraminsdale@leg.state.vt.us
Nader Hashim, Windham, nhashim@leg.state.vt.us
Terry Williams, Clerk, tkwilliams@leg.state.vt.us
Steven Heffernan, Addison, sheffernan@leg.state.vt.us
All committee transcripts are available at www.goldendomevt.com. Committee meeting video available at the committee’s YouTube channel. The committee meets in the morning in Room 8.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Education, State Government, Taxes
You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear – no matter how you ‘overhaul’ it.
More show time at the Vermont state house. Need to form more committees to study this complicated problem. Waiting for the grand performance from the new elected gang whom are still feeding off the taxpayers with their free food card. Now I have to pay an increase in my private health insurance and pay the increase in the public employee system. Sorry, the bird feeder is empty and have a good day.
Saunders’ analysis is a reflection of what many of us have been saying for years; and all the while advocating for change. The big question is, will her work bring about change?
Everything, not just the school funding, that the legislature has done in the past is based on putting spending first and collecting funds second.
That is what you get when the last thing you do before adjourning is to set the budget. That should bethe FIRST thing done ! Then the spendthrifts in Mount Peculiar should have to live within it ! That is what every citizen has to do, and there is no reason these disingenuous ___ bags under the “Golden Dome” should not be expected to do the same !
I know that my opinion as a Vermonter that has never had children is probably not what most people can identify with, and to tell you the truth, I really don’t give a rat’s donkey ! I have been paying for other people’s progeny since I was 18 years old, I am now 68, do the math. Is it right for people like me to have to foot any of the education bill so others can afford to send their kids off to get a second rate education ? At the very least we (people like me) should see some form of a cut rate. I have had people tell me “you were schooled by the presently accepted way of taxation to pay for your education”. Yes, yes I was, but does that make it right, or perfect ? I am a big believer in user fees. If you use a service, you pay for it. Socialism ? not so much ! What is good for the collective has never been a good enough reason to me. Will I ever be happy as long as I am paying the same rate of education taxes as someone with 3, 4, 5, 6, kids ? Really ? You tell me !
There’s an argument to be made for paying into the education system whether or not ‘the kids’ are yours, or how many of them might not be yours. Ostensibly, we invest in the education of our collective children because, if they are well educated, regardless of who their parents are, we will receive a benefit from the investment sooner or later.
But the key here is whether or not these kids are ‘well educated’.
I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Doing what we can to educate all of our children is not only an honorable endeavor, when done well it provides an invaluable return on the investment for all of us.
The problem is that the education system has been co-opted by socialist thieves and beggars. The one-size-fits-all, everyone-gets-a-trophy, no matter what the cost, crowd is robbing us blind to benefit themselves and no one else – certainly not the kids. And there is only one ‘reform’ I’ve been able to conjure that helps the baby *and* gets rid of the bathwater.
Do I have to reiterate that reform again? Apparently so.
It’s School Choice. Especially the School Choice methodology enabled by Vermont’s already popular, academically successful, and financially prudent School Choice Tuitioning program as expressed in the H.405 School Choice Bill.
We wouldn’t be complaining if our property taxes were declining, if student outcomes were improving, if businesses had a well-educated and prolific workforce from which to choose, if people had a legitimate reason (as opposed to more welfare benefits) to live in Vermont.
Just because we’re being ripped off by the parasites in our public education monopoly doesn’t mean that supporting education is necessarily a bad thing. We just have to figure out how to change the incentives.
Where is the Republican plan to cut spending? How much money is being cut from spending and current budget?
How much lower will be next year’s budget?
We didn’t vote you in to keep current spending levels.
Where’s the beef?
The beef is in the H.405 School Choice bill currently collecting dust on the House Education Committee shelves for the past two years. H.405 provides all Vermont parents with the option of sending their kids to the State’s public schools, or sending them to an approved independent school. For every student who chooses an alternative independent school, funded by the State’s Average Tuition voucher, taxpayers should save $10 thousand or so.
I’ve been told ‘by informed sources’ that the H.405 School Choice bill is in the process of being resurrected. In any case, if taxpayers are truly interested in saving money, and if parents are actually interested in improving their children’s education, and they all want to do something tangible to attain those lofty goals, they should contact their local House and Senate representatives in Montpelier and ask them to do whatever they can to bring the H.405 School Choice bill to the floor and pass it.
While Secretary Saunders points out real facts and consequences, the demoprogs will just continue their critiques of her qualifications and experience. In the age of leftist victim worship, just being a woman is not enough anymore as a “qualification”. She is white, heterosexual and has nice children, and that counts against her. They would prefer someone totally incompetent, but with good intersectional credentials, like that pathetic mayor of Los Angeles.
Emily Long, Burlington, elong@leg.state.vt.us – is listed above incorrectly. She is a Windham-5 representative from Newfane, not a Burlington rep..