Nominations are Open for 2018 Con Hogan Community Leadership Award

Posted by Paul Cillo on May 29, 2018 at 4:05 pm | Comments Off on Nominations are Open for 2018 Con Hogan Community Leadership Award

Winner to Receive $15,000 Cash Prize Nominations are now being accepted for the $15,000 Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial Community Leadership. Initiated in 2015, the annual award is a tribute to Con Hogan’s life’s work and commitment to public service. Read more

School taxes will increase with governor’s flat rate

Posted by Jack Hoffman on May 25, 2018 at 1:37 pm | Comments Off on School taxes will increase with governor’s flat rate

Vermonters know there’s a difference between taxes and tax rates. Especially when it comes to property taxes, a lower rate doesn’t mean lower taxes if the grand list value of a property goes up. It’s important to distinguish between taxes and rates as the administration and the Legislature seek a compromise on education funding for next year. Read more

There’s no Education Fund deficit

Posted by Jack Hoffman on May 9, 2018 at 9:54 am | * Comments (1)

Pssst. Did you hear about the $60 million deficit in the Education Fund?

Guess what. It’s not true.

Given the headlines and news stories in recent weeks, Vermonters may be surprised to hear there is no deficit in the Education Fund. That’s because funding for schools—like funding for municipalities—doesn’t work like the state budget, and never has. Citizens vote directly on their school and municipal budgets. Their elected representatives vote on the state budget. That makes a big difference.

Too little, too late for the governor’s education plan

Posted by Stephanie Yu on May 4, 2018 at 1:09 pm | * Comments (1)

It’s finally spring in Vermont. That means a little lingering snow, the occasional summer-like day, and a last-minute proposal from Governor Scott to slash education spending.

In a replay of 2017, just when the Legislature is wrapping up its negotiations on the budget, the education fund and other bills, the governor this week upended the process by releasing a proposal to cut education spending. Read more

Few towns have consistently high per-pupil spending

Posted by Jack Hoffman on April 27, 2018 at 1:21 pm | Comments Off on Few towns have consistently high per-pupil spending

Our recent blog about the fluctuations in school spending among high-spending towns prompted questions from curious readers looking for details. In response to those questions, we’re publishing the list of the 65 towns that appeared at least once among the top 25 in education spending per pupil from fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2018. The list below shows the towns, how many years they appear among the top 25, whether they tuition some or all of their students, and the number of equalized pupils in each town. If you want to sort the list, download the spreadsheet.

Raising property taxes won’t lower property taxes

Posted by Jack Hoffman on April 25, 2018 at 2:43 pm | * Comments (2)

The Legislature is again considering using the property tax as a deterrent against high spending in Vermont schools.

Currently, school tax rates go up proportionally with per-pupil spending increases. The bill recently passed by the House would change the education funding system so that tax rates would rise faster than spending increases as a disincentive to higher spending.

Legislators say they understand the pressures on property tax payers and want to ease their plight. But in the name of cost containment, they’re proposing to make it more painful for Vermont resident homeowners who want to or have to spend more on their kids’ education.

That might make sense if towns were willfully or carelessly spending too much on education. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Lawmakers can slow Vermont’s worsening income inequality

Posted by Stephanie Yu on April 13, 2018 at 12:27 pm | Comments Off on Lawmakers can slow Vermont’s worsening income inequality

Last December, Washington passed a giant tax cut that mostly benefits corporations and those at the top—in Vermont they will see a $350 million federal tax reduction in 2018 alone.  This new federal law will increase Vermont’s income inequality, which slows economic growth, increases poverty, and reduces upward mobility.

The Legislature is contemplating two measures that would slow this worsening income inequality by giving working Vermonters a bigger slice of the pie: a minimum wage increase and paid family and medical leave.

What’s the cost of cost containment?

Posted by Jack Hoffman on April 5, 2018 at 3:53 pm | * Comments (2)

Cost containment is the watchword around public education this legislative session, with a focus on “high spenders.” The assumption seems to be that reining in high-spending school districts will free up lots of money for low-spending districts and also lower property taxes for everyone.

No one has defined “high spender” or “low spender,” although for some legislators the terms appear relative to their own towns’ spending. But one way to analyze education spending is to see where the majority of pupils fall and then look at who lies above and below.

As the infographic shows, per-pupil spending for two-thirds of Vermont students this year falls between about $14,000 and $16,750. The average is $15,368, so two-thirds of students are within about $1,400—plus or minus—of the average.­

Reverse Robin Hood

Posted by Stephanie Yu on March 30, 2018 at 12:19 pm | * Comments (2)

While state leaders work on neutralizing a $30 million state income tax increase that would result from federal tax reform, there has been not a word about the much bigger state impact of that reform: the $500 million tax cut mostly for those at the top and the likely cuts in federal support for state services.

Testimony to House Education Committee, March 12, 2018

Posted by Sarah Lyons on March 14, 2018 at 11:01 am | Comments Off on Testimony to House Education Committee, March 12, 2018

House Education Committee
March 12, 2018
Testimony of Paul A. Cillo, President

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee.

Thank you for inviting me to testify today on H.911, the Ways and Means Committee bill. I am addressing the portions of the bill that relate to education funding.

I appreciate that you have a difficult task. I’ve been deeply involved in education funding for 30 years. It’s complicated; not just in Vermont, but everywhere in the country. There are lots of interactive moving parts to the system. For that reason, I’ve found it’s helpful and important to identify the problem you’re trying to solve and understand the cause of the problem.