Fix K-12 First!: FreedomWorks calls for an end all raids on the Vermont Education Fund

VERMONT. Teachers are taking their grievances to the picket lines… to the colossal frustration of parents… while anger among property taxpayers is reaching a boiling point….

Taking money out of the State Education Fund to pay for non-K-12 projects will only serve to make this emotionally volatile and explosively expensive situation even worse than it currently is. FreedomWorks-Vermont is launching a state-wide, grassroots campaign to pressure legislators to stop raiding the Ed Fund, and to fix K-12 first.

Even though this is common sense policy, many in the legislature are planning to use (and/or continue to use) State Education Fund money for non-K-12 spending, ranging from capitol construction projects for state colleges, to adult education programs, to prisoner instruction, to expanding the public school system to include pre-k programs for 3 and 4-years olds. This last item alone could ultimately mean over $100 million being sucked out of property taxpayers pockets, the K-12 system, or, a combination of both.

By restricting State Education Fund money for only K-12, legislators would: 1) Demonstrate respect and understanding for overburdened property taxpayers. 2) Protect between 400 and 500 small business – private childcare providers serving over 23,000 children — from having to unfairly compete with “free” public pre-school programs, and, 3) Focus needed attention and resources on fixing the evident problems (strikes, deficits, pensions, demographics) with K-12 in Vermont.

While limiting the State Education Fund strictly to K-12 would not by itself solve all the problems with skyrocketing education costs and skyrocketing property taxes, it is a critical, common sense first step in keeping the situation from getting ever further out of control. After all, you can’t bail out a leaky boat.

Quick Facts & Figures

• The total cost of education in VT has risen to $1,261,004,438 for 2006, up from 1,195,204,539 in 2005 (SBOE website). If the trend of increasing costs by 5-7% annually continues, Vermont will be spending well over $2 billion on education by 2010. This is unsustainable.
• Since 1996, just the Property Tax Burden for education has risen from $438.5 million to $651.3 million in 2005, and is projected to reach $820 million by 2008. (VT League of Cities & Towns, http://www.vlct.org/candbullpdf/candbull04_proptaxes.pdf)
• If current spending trends continue (and according to preliminary Ed Fund Outlook numbers for 2006, they will not only continue, but grow) our property taxes will increase about 40% from the FY06 level in just a few years. This includes both homestead and non-homestead property tax as shown in the Education Fund Outlook. This means a current $5K tax bill today will increase to $7K in a few years just for education. And this does not even include expanded universal preschool!
• While all this spending has increased dramatically, over the last decade student population in Vermont has declined from roughly 104,000 to 95,000.
• VTNEA membership, at the same time, has climbed to 11,000. (VTNEA website)
• The VTNEA (Angelo Dorta) has stated its goal of achieving $40,000 base pay for first time teachers (current average base pay is around $28,000). Given that roughly 85% of ed costs in Vermont are salaries and benefits, a 42% base pay increase would mean massive tax increases.
• Sen. Wilton estimates her bill (not yet numbered), which limits taxpayer funded preschool to only to “At Risk” kids (learning disabled or 185% of poverty level) will cost $30 million on top of the $37 already being spent on other programs for At Risk kids, assuming a 41% participation rate. Full access to taxpayer funded preschool by all children would necessarily cost multiples of this.
• Last year, legislators attempted to divert $500,000 from the Education Fund for adult education and literacy services to pay for the cost of adult learners 16-20 years old not enrolled in local public schools. (www.vlct.org)
• This year a proposal requests funding of $775,000 to provide special education services to prisoners and others under the supervision of the State Department of Correction. (www.vlct.org)
• The Chair of the House Education Committee has introduced H. 147 which proposes to expand the state education property tax uses to assume a significant portion of the state’s capital construction obligations. The bill would levy an additional 5-cent property tax on all non-residential property to pay for what has been the state’s general fund obligation for public school, technical center, university and state college capital construction requests. (www.vlct.org)

For more detailed analysis visit www.freedomworks.org/vermont/ and look for

Fix-K-12 First! – Protecting Taxpayers
Fix K-12 First! – Private Providers
Fix K-12 First! – Legal History

We are currently getting these documents posted on our website, if they are not yet up when you search, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact Rob Roper, and he will email them to you.