Fixes beyond this year

There are many options to consider for revising how public education is funded in Vermont. That is our next task. We will be looking at the problems outlined here, and the various ways to address them. 

• Can we slow, stop, or reverse the constant increase in the cost of education?

  • This may involve adjust the formula used to fund education such that spending that exceeds a certain level will result in a higher property tax. This is similar to the Excess Spending Threshold that has been suspended.

• Can we fund school construction without driving up education taxes?

  • There are several ideas about how to tie school construction funding to a dedicated funding source (not the Ed Fund). House Education has a draft bill (dr req 24-0671) that should be coming out of committee soon addressing some of these issues.

• Can we reduce or slow the increase in health care benefits?

  • There are proposals to reconfigure the makeup of the committee that negotiates teacher medical benefits.

  • Also proposals modify some of the protocols used during negotiations. 

• Can we consolidate more schools and improve the staff to student ratio?

• Other proposals

  • H.63O "proposes to allow and encourage school districts to create boards of cooperative education services to provide shared education services and access grants on a county level."  These "BoCES" may enable districts to reduce administrative costs.

There is plenty to work on.