Non-profit seeking to grow VT’s Middle Class releases latest report.
Vermont Business Magazine On Monday, Campaign for Vermont Prosperity (CFV) released a report looking at education data in Vermont to help identify opportunities for cost savings and better performance.
“A decade after Act 46, it’s clear that district consolidation was not the answer,” said CFV Interim Executive Director Ben Kinsley. “Education spending has skyrocketed while outcomes have declined.”
The new report builds on a similar report the organization published in 2014 that showed larger school districts did not necessarily perform better. Today’s report shows that the trend has continued, however statistical analysis shows some potential cost and performance improvements could be had through supervisory union consolidation and increasing class sizes.
“The real new findings in this report,” said Kinsley, “is that the largest cost-driver we are seeing in Vermont’s education system is our smallest-in-the-country class sizes. We are so out of step with the rest of the country that not only is it heavily impacting cost, it’s also negatively impacting performance.”
The data shows that, in Vermont, outcomes actually improve as class sizes get bigger, particularly at higher grade levels. CFV hopes that the report helps legislators focus on data-informed policymaking in order to tackle the property tax crisis the state is facing.
“CFV is known for issuing data-driven reports, and I believe this report may be the most impactful one yet,” said CFV President Pat McDonald. “This report provides solid data identifying cost and performance drivers. I hope lawmakers remember that it is Vermont’s children that should be at the forefront in their thinking and decision-making. I know they are in mine.”
The full report can be found at CampaignForVermont.org.
CFV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization comprised of over 20,000 Vermonters and dedicated to the vision of a more prosperous Vermont and growing middle class. They seek to accomplish these goals by reconnecting Vermonters to their government and advocating for more transparent and accountable policymaking.
Source: 12.30.2024. Montpelier, Vermont – CampaignForVermont.org