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News Articles
Published: Monday, December 18, 2006
By Molly Walsh
Free Press Staff Writer
The 65 percent solution for schools
Vermont group advocates spending at least 65 percent of budgets in the classroom; argues there is too much fat in administration, staff.
Fed up with what they view as bloated school administrative costs and superfluous school jobs, a high school teacher and an outgoing state senator from Rutland County are urging Vermonters to join a national movement to direct at least 65 percent of education funding to the classroom.
In Vermont, the percentage of education funding that goes directly to classroom instruction is declining and hit about 61 percent in 2005, according to Wendy Wilton, a Republican state senator from Rutland County and co-chairwoman of First Class Education for Vermont.
Vermont spends more than $1 billion a year on public schools, and school property taxes are increasing well above the rate of inflation, according to the Vermont Tax Department. More of the money should go straight to the classroom and to teachers, Wilton said. "We want the best and brightest people teaching our children. That's why the focus should be there. "
She and Fair Haven Union High School teacher Curtis Hier launched the campaign last month. They are circulating a petition that asks citizens to urge local school boards to make "every reasonable effort to devote 65 percent of all education expenditures to actual classrooms."
The Vermont group is not working for laws to require a 65 percent allocation, Wilton said, but the national First Class Education group is. The national group, founded in 2005 by online retail magnate Patrick Byrne, has successfully lobbied for initiatives in at least four states.
Wilton said that for now the Vermont group just wants the issue to be a topic of conversation at school budget meetings and town meetings. Wilton said she has met many people who are supportive of the 65 percent allocation and are concerned about the increase in non-teaching staff at schools in a state where student enrollment is declining by 1 percent annually. She and Hier argue that too much money is being spent on teacher's aides, curriculum directors, secretaries, technology directors and other non-teaching jobs.
During her recent unsuccessful campaign for re-election, Wilton said the issue seemed to resonate with people who said they saw the bloat in parking lots at their own local schools and commented, "'You know, you used to have 20 cars at the school, now there's like 40 cars at the school.' .... People at the anecdotal level are understanding this and seeing it in their own community," Wilton said.
Broader response to the campaign has been mixed.
Vermont Education Commissioner Richard Cate said the 65 percent goal is worthwhile but emphasized that each school is different and faces different staffing needs. Cate has proposed a school governance reform plan to consolidate the state's school districts from 284 to 63.
This proposal, which will be discussed at a series of meetings around the state in the coming months, might eventually help increase the percentage of education spending that goes directly to classroom instruction, Cate said. "Having a benchmark, setting a goal, trying to be more efficient so we get more services to kids, it's a good thing."
The 65 percent campaign is based on National Center for Education Statistics calculations of classroom spending. The calculation does not count costs for librarians, guidance counselors, school nurses, or administrators such as principals and superintendents. It also excludes food service and bus transportation costs. Critics of the campaign say that many of these services are vital and would be squeezed by a 65 percent rule.
There's no bloat in the Vermont public education system, said Jeff Francis, executive director of the Vermont Superintendents Association. "I think we have an education delivery system that is scrutinized by the public at every school budget vote. We've got a school system that by almost every account delivers high performance in terms of the outcomes of our students."
Also not a fan of the 65 percent push: Joel Cook, executive director of the Vermont-NEA union that represents 11,000 teachers and other school personnel. "Is it bloat to get kids to and from school on buses?" asked Cook. "Is it bloat to provide kids food so that they can concentrate on learning?"
Contact Molly Walsh at 660-1874 or mwalsh@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
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