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Taxpayers and students are being ripped off, and no one is being held accountable.
by Rob Roper
The financial website Wallet Hub just came out with state rankings for public education, and Vermont came in overall 19th out of the fifty states. Pretty “meh” on the surface. But the overall score was based on components of outcomes and safety, and purely on the outcomes side, Vermont ranks 25th. That’s more like a “sheesh!” Just FYI, our neighbors in New Hampshire came in 5th overall, 4th on quality, and Massachusetts came in number one for both.
But Vermont’s education decline over the past couple of decades doesn’t stop at just “sheesh!” An in depth piece by former UVM and State’s Economist Art Woolf reveals that when we account for demographics an even bleaker picture emerges. According to NEAP testing (aka the Nation’s Report Card), Vermont’s fourth grade non-Hispanic White students come in 47th in the nation for math and 48th for reading. This is particularly a problem – one that brings us from “sheesh” to “WTF!!” – because 90 percent of the Vermont’s population is non-Hispanic White.
The reason non-Hispanic White students tend to perform better statistically on a national level is because that demographic has, statistically speaking, more financial affluence, fewer single parent households, and parents with higher levels of education – all factors that heavily influence educational outcomes. But is this race-based brush appropriate to apply to Vermont? Maybe our non-Hispanic White parents are just less educated, poorer, and worse at relationships than their peers elsewhere. Nope. This is not the case. Not at all.
As Woolf points out, Vermont has the third lowest child poverty rate in the nation at 9 percent and the seventh lowest percentage of students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. According to statista.com (citing US Census as the source), we are above the national average for household incomes (18th out of 50 states). So, crying poverty is not an excuse.
According to the US Census (as of 2021), Vermont has the fourth highest percentage of population with at least a bachelor’s degree, which assumes a more educated parent cohort. And, according to statista.com, Vermont has the second lowest percentage of single mother households with children under eighteen years old. So, parents and family situations are not to blame.
Vermont consistently ranks as one of the nation’s healthiest states, as well as one of the safest, two other factors affecting student outcomes that indicate our children should be doing, on average, better not worse than their peers in other states.
The suck factor is our schools.
Yes, we have problems and challenges, but not like states that have major issues with urban poverty, high crime rates, and/or large, diverse immigrant populations that speak a multitude of primary languages that are not English. On paper, given all of our input advantages, Vermont public schools should be kicking butt. They are not.
Oh, and how could I forget, in addition to this multitude of demographic and cultural head starts we spend more freakin’ money per student than every other state but one. Nearly $2.5 billion to educate about 80,000 kids. In other words, our public schools are born on third base — yet are somehow managing to strike out. Embarrassingly. Like corkscrewing yourself in the batter’s box, hitting yourself in the head with the backswing, and falling down on a slow pitch right down the middle kind of strike out.
It’s not just test scores. Getting back to Woolf’s article (which everyone should read in its entirety), Vermont’s high school graduation rate is just 83 percent, below the national average of 87 percent, and is lower than average for every demographic subgroup.
There is no excuse for this level of failure. The people in charge – the politicians and the educrats and the teachers – need to be held accountable. The “fired” kind of accountable. Not the “let’s put these demonstrably incompetent scam artists in charge of education finance and delivery reform” kind of accountable, which, of course, Vermont politics being Vermont politics, is what we’re doing.
We’ve been firehosing more and more money into this system for going on three decades and it clearly isn’t working. More spending is not the answer. It’s time to stop the money train. It’s time to acknowledge the real problem — not Covid lockdown fallout (which public school policies exacerbated), not poverty, not parents, not independent schools (they, by the way, are performing pretty well) – but the Vermont public school system itself. Generally speaking, it stinks. And Vermont’s students and taxpayers are paying the price.
Rob Roper is a freelance writer who has been involved with Vermont politics and policy for over 20 years. This article reprinted with permission from Behind the Lines: Rob Roper on Vermont Politics, robertroper.substack.com
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Categories: Commentary, Education
Headline fixed:
Face it, Vermont’s public schools are really indoctrination institutions, and here they’re flourishing
Homeschooling is booming in Vermont and for obvious reasons.
So they want to close independent schools!
Equate the school rankings with the VT Legislature
So all this money we keep pouring into education isn’t working
Wait! I know, let’s pour even MORE money into it!!!
Oh spare me! When teachers unions are more concerned about how much per hour the teachers are getting rather then the quality of the education even though the union said they’re concerned, they lie.
As a nation, the U.S. ranks close to the bottom against the rest of the world in test scores yet we spend more on education than all countries except Norway. Money doesn’t fix the problem. Holding teachers accountable and non-caring students as well will get us on the path of making things right.
I know that I have made similar comments before, but I will continue to do so. Do all states exercise a policy of never “holding back” a student to repeat a grade because of inadequate performance in their current grade? I have witnessed it in the past, and when I asked a co-worker about it I was told “because it would make the school look bad”! I personally know a mid-age person who graduated from HS, but is not able to read. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the test scores of that person (probably) were included with the rest of the students.
Until they repeal no child left behind and dismantle the Dept of Education’
It’s time to treat teachers as the professionals they claim to be. Get rid of the union. Pay teachers by merit. Promote excellence, pay them appropriately and weed out the garbage. Once this happens teachers who waste time on foolishness will either change for the betterment of students or become greeters at Walmart.
Re: “It’s time to treat teachers as the professionals they claim to be. Get rid of the union.”
While this seems to be a commonsense approach, it is a judicial rat’s nest to try to do.
The Supreme Court, for example, has recognized that the right to associate for collective bargaining is a form of protected activity under First Amendment freedoms, as seen in cases like NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. (1937), which upheld the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA, a federal law, explicitly protects workers’ rights to engage in collective bargaining. On the other hand, collective bargaining rights are governed by the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (5 U.S.C. Chapter 71), which grants federal employees the right to organize and bargain collectively, but with restrictions compared to private-sector employees.’
I hope you see my point.
Like the public schools, the problem is not with the ‘unions’. The problem is that we are forced by elected politicians to use the services they provide. Seeking alternative education services is a consummate aspect of ‘regulatory capture’:
‘… where a government agency charged with regulating an industry or entity becomes unduly influenced by the very entity it is meant to regulate, often acting in the interests of the regulated entity rather than the public interest.”
The remedy is, of course, in allowing parents to choose their education service providers. If some parents want to use ‘closed shop’ services, that’s up to them. And if other parents want to use alternative ‘open shop’ services, they should have ‘equal access’.
Re: “Pay teachers by merit.”
Of course, I think I understand what you’re saying. But who defines ‘merit’? The unions will say they already pay based on merit, or their definition of what merit actually is. In the case of unions, merit equates with tenure and various certification levels.
The merit I think you’re citing would be based on student outcomes. The question then is, what kind of outcome constitutes being meritorious? And who decides? Is it just reading, writing and arithmetic skills? If that were the case, kids should be out of school by the end of the 8th grade. And what about Geography, History and Science? Again, who decides? The teacher’s union, the legislature, the Governor, … or the parents?
The problem is NOT with our public schools.
It’s with the Vermont voters who persist in electing corrupt legislators and school boards who are beholden to education special interest groups.
Face it Vermonters. We are fools. We’ve been told over and again how outrageously dysfunctional our public school system is. It’s massively expensive. Half of its graduates can’t read. The social indoctrination is mind numbing and clearly unhealthy. Conflict of interest is epidemic. And it’s getting worse, every year.
And still, we elect the same people to our school boards and the legislature… over and over again… even while we know, in our hearts and minds, what the proper course of action is.
We know… right. Right?
What is the single most important education governance reform we can promote that has proven itself, over and over again, to lower costs and improve outcomes? Come on. What is it?
Just say it!
The problem is NOT with our public schools. It’s with the Vermont voters who persist in electing corrupt legislators who are beholden to education special interest groups.
Face it. We are the fools. We’ve been told over and again how outrageous the public school system is. It’s massively expensive. Half its graduates can’t read to grade level. And never mond the indoctrination.
So we should change the voters and leave the public school system alone?
Rob: That’s one of the most foolish remarks I’ve ever heard from you. Surely, you can do better. Or, perhaps, you can’t.
Would anyone else care to make a snide, foolish, unproductive remark? After all, that’s what the education special interest groups want to hear from you.
You’re the one who wrote, “The problem is NOT with our public schools. It’s with the voters…” Twice. Which I would classify as foolish and unproductive.
I think you are wrong in the the main when you say “We’ve been told over and again how outrageous the public school system is. It’s massively expensive.” Most Vermonters who are not political/policy junkies are told over and over again by the politicians and the mainstream media and the schools themselves that our school system is great! One of the best in the country. More are catching on that this is a lie, but I fail to see how it’s a productive way to bring people over to your side by calling them “fools” and “the problem” for being systematically deceived. It’s not a very welcoming message.
Rob, your reply is a classic diversion used by many political operatives. This is your projection of a false narrative. And I hope VDC readers learn to recognize the tactic, because this is what they will confront when trying to express their opinions.
Yes, I said ‘public schools were NOT the problem’. I did NOT say ‘change the voters and leave the public school system alone’. That conflated false dichotomy is strictly your invention.
Re: “I think you are wrong in the … main when you say “We’ve been told over and again how outrageous the public school system is. It’s massively expensive.”
Again, more politically projected conjecture. When is the last time you said ‘… our public school system is great’? I’ve been at this for 20 years. Never once did I say that.
We’re all political/policy junkies. At least everyone who struggles to pay their property tax, everyone advocating for their children’s successful education outcome, the myriad businesses looking for an improved workforce, not to mention those worried about their children’s mental and physical health.
Some voters listen to the special interest groups. Others don’t. But here on VDC, and on FYIVT, and on WVMT, on Substack, and myriad other outlets, we rarely, if ever hear that the public education system is great. We don’t hear that on VT Digger, Seven Days, or VT Public either.
This is NOT to say the education special interest groups don’t try to convince us of their acumen. But judging by the comments I‘ve seen for the last 20 years, very few people believe them. That they don’t know how to remedy the situation is the crux of my discussions here.
You will be better served, IMHO, to let the readers explore their own perspectives, rather than continually tell them what’s wrong without offering any tangible remedies. Because, in the final analysis, it’s not up to you or me to tell them. They have to figure it out for themselves.
Jay,
When you accuse, “I did NOT say ‘change the voters and leave the public school system alone’. That conflated false dichotomy is strictly your invention,” it is you who are inventing. I never said you said that. It was a question posed to you for clarification of your statement that the public schools were not the problem and the voters were. That should have been clear to you from the QUESTION MARK at the end of my sentence, which you misleadingly replaced with a period in your quoting me.
I do my best to elect them but when they have such indoctrination in our young voters already, and allow out of State Students and non residents to vote it’s very hard!
Really, the teachers are to blame? Teachers teach the curriculum that is mandated by the Vt Agency of Education; teachers do not have the freedom to choose what they teach. These curriculums are in constant change from year to year as the latest and greatest new ideas in education come along. As an example, a new math curriculum is presented to the administrators from an outside vendor, the State agrees to it, and the vendor sells the program and all the supporting books to the schools. Often, after the teachers have learned the new system, within a year or two, this system is trashed for another new curriculum that has just come down the pike. This scenario plays out over and over. There is big money in education which why there are so many companies in the business of trying to sell their products, to say nothing of all the seminars that are presented with mandatory attendance. This is how they make their money, by constantly selling these products to entire school systems.
Spot on, Will Fagan. And who enables the AOE? Our elected officials do. The officials we elect year in and year out.
Would you care to express what governance change we should be demanding from those candidates who truly want to reform the system… those for whom we should be voting?
Partially. As I wrote, “the politicians and the educrats and the teachers – need to be held accountable.” If the teachers don’t like the mandates the politicians are foisting on them, they do control the (arguably) most powerful lobbying union in Montpelier, the VTNEA. Why don’t they demand that power be used to push back against whacky, leftist education experiments? If the union isn’t responsive, leave the union and deny them your dues money. They’re not hapless victims in what’s happening in classrooms, although I agree the system can and does treat teachers unfairly, such as forcing them to be social service workers as well as educators. But then again, come election time the VTNEA exclusively backs Democrats who push the social services, DEI, etc agenda. So….
Re: “As I wrote, “the politicians and the educrats and the teachers – need to be held accountable.”
Held accountable how, and by who?
Actually, as a former two term School Commissioner, teachers do not always teach curriculum. We even had one History teacher ignore the books the taxpayers supplied and photocopied (ignoring copyright rules) and taught his class Howard Zinn’s version of U.S. history. If you weren’t indoctrinated, Google what Zinn’s version of history was about.
Sorry, Jay, were the sentences that followed the one you referenced not clear? “The “fired” kind of accountable. Not the ‘let’s put these demonstrably incompetent scam artists in charge of education finance and delivery reform’ kind of accountable, which, of course, Vermont politics being Vermont politics, is what we’re doing…. More spending is not the answer. It’s time to stop the money train.” Only voters can fire politicians. And only politicians can fire bureaucrats.
And who fires the teachers, Rob? Who decides which teachers should stay and who should go?
I have no argument with you regarding the prospect that the public education monopoly is a scam and that more spending is not the answer.
And it is a two-step process. You seem to now recognize step one: “Only voters can fire politicians” … and elect those who understand step two.
Step two is where we disagree. Yes, elected politicians, from school board members to the State legislature and the Governor, can fire bureaucrats. But what then? They hire other bureaucrats who support them politically. More of the same.
I am truly amazed at the comments here. I’ve teased and goaded everyone to present their idea for the single most important education reform that satisfies everyone, improves education outcomes and lowers taxes.
It’s as plain as the nose on our collective faces. But no one will dare to utter the words. Will someone, anyone, explain that to me?
The audio from Ben Kinsley that 71% of households with school aged children have a negative opinion of the quality of education in Vermont is actually encouraging. I’m glad they are aware. Hopefully more parents have had enough and will revolt by removing their children from public schools. The rug needs to be pulled out from underneath the Education Industrial Complex.
Re: “The rug needs to be pulled out from underneath the Education Industrial Complex.”
But how?
Thank you, Renee. Homeschooling en masse would necessitate changes to public school funding, which is based on number of pupils. The rug is the public funds allocated to education and without those funds, public education goes into crisis. It’s then that citizens and legislators will have the strong incentive to redesign it. Jay Eshelman, she answered your question.
H. Jay Eshelman, well, the rug has already begun to be pulled out through some federal E.O.’s and the restriction and withholding of federal funds. Some GOP lawmakers have introduced a bill to strip the NEA of it’s congressional charter. I would like to see more constitution-minded legislators elected in Vermont so we can consider school choice/school vouchers. And a real rug pulling would be for a public school walk-out organized by students and parents: I would LOVE to see this! Leave and don’t come back until schools commit to, and uphold, the teaching of core academics, civics, and removal of DEI and gender ideology indoctrination. I think most of the kids are sick of it, and might be the only “adults in the room” able to pull this off. I am angry that many students are making their way through the public “education” system while legislators dink around, accomplishing neither an improvement in academics nor a reduction in the education tax burden.
Re: Jay Eshelman, she (Renee McGuinness) answered your question.”
In the final analysis, ‘homeschool’ is a legitimate goal. My wife and I homeschooled our kids for a while. But I still don’t see the process in which that can happen for everyone. For one thing, it assumes that all parents ‘want’ to homeschool. What about the 30% of parents who are satisfied with their local public school?
Indeed, if every parent homeschooled their children, they would be better off. And if every parent did so, the public-school monopoly would be rendered an unnecessary institution. But how do you get every parent to invest in homeschooling simultaneously and take their kids out of the public school system en masse? After all, they can’t seem to be able to elect responsible legislators, let alone take on a task like homeschooling in one fell swoop.
There is a reasonable way to begin to pull this off. The governance already exists. And it has been discussed over and again. But first the voters must understand the process and elect reasonable minded legislators.
Re: “I would like to see more constitution-minded legislators elected in Vermont so we can consider school choice/school vouchers.”
Bingo, Renee! If I could ‘like’ your comment one hundred times over, I would do so.
Again, Vermont already has legislation that provides for this educational feature, and has been providing for it for almost 40 years. Just not for everyone. If anyone doesn’t understand what Renee is saying, please speak up. And then make sure the candidate you vote for understands this too.
We can’t but see this as a blessing. The public is confronted with painful evidence that our sojourned into running a schooling business is a dismal failure. What’s been created is an exorbitantly expensive featherbedded monolith. It’s only apparent purpose is self perpetuation. The intended “product”, educated young citizens, is not evident nor is there any promise that it will be. Lets get our government out of the schooling business. Give educational matters back to parents and teachers. With refunded tax moneys, parents can purchase the skills and services of teachers, tailored to their kids needs. Customer (Learner) driven service. Love to see our state lead the way on this.
A good start to turning things around would be for a large percentage of parents to pull their kids from public education en masse and home school their kids. The problem is A) parents are both working trying to afford living here. B) too many parents are not actually aware how bad it is and thus just cobble along as best they can hoping/trusting that the system is doing right by them. The $64,000 question is how much of a mass departure from the public system would it take to actually force them to admit that they MUST downsize in response to an ever smaller enrollment? Once and if that could happen…maybe, just maybe the system might begin to teach what their clients (the tax paying public) want them to teach. It’s a huge long shot though.
Re: “The problem is A) parents are both working trying to afford living here. B) too many parents are not actually aware how bad it is and thus just cobble along as best they can hoping/trusting that the system is doing right by them.”
That parents are working hard to afford to live here is not a problem. Parents have been working hard for a long, long time. The problem is that parents have no authority to decide what is best for their chidren.
Re: “The problem is … B) too many parents are not actually aware how bad it is and thus just cobble along as best they can hoping/trusting that the system is doing right by them.”
But most parents are aware. Consider “…the audio from Ben Kinsley that 71% of households with school aged children have a negative opinion of the quality of education in Vermont”, as cited by Renee McGuinness – above.
So, again, I ask… What is the single most important education governance reform we can promote that has proven itself, over and over again, to lower costs and improve outcomes?
Will no one say it?
Fraud has a limited shelf life – appears the shelf our education system sits upon has loose screws and the brackets pulling away from the wall. Collusion and conspiracies to commit fraud – from the top to the bottom feeders at this one of many hog troughs.
I don’t know that I would characterize public education fraud as having a limited shelf life. Not only has it persisted for more than 100 years, it has expanded exponentially and seems to be cast in perpetuity – because the voters don’t appear to be interested in holding themselves accountable.
A school, 189 students, 13 to 1 student teacher ratio, pre-k thru 8, yet there are 60 cars in the school parking lot each day. I feel the ratio may be skewed. Do they really think the taxpayers eyes are painted on?
The Agency of Education employs approximately 20,000 people, from superintendents to bus drivers. That’s 20,000 staff serving 72,000 students. That’s a 3.6 student to staff ratio.
Why do I say only 72,000 students? Well, in reality, it’s even fewer. Closer to 68,000. The other students are served by private vendors, not AOE employees.
And it’s been reported that there are 34,000 retired Vermont AOE staff, all drawing ‘defined benefit’ retirement programs that are grossly under-funded.
But again, this is just another example of the mismanaged Vermont public-school monopoly. Add it to the pile of other examples already on the desk.
But what do we do about it?
Renee McGuinness has answered the question. And it’s my understanding that she is running again in 2026 for the Vermont legislature in Addison District -4.
Please vote for Renee and all like-minded candidates.
Great job teachers union.