Lyons offers thoughts on controlling education spending

Recent town meeting votes against school budget proposals were not a just a wakeup call about property taxes. It was a reminder that the school funding system needs major repair.

While districts and voters are making changes to next year’s budgets, the Legislature is working to avoid catastrophic increases in property taxes related to school funding. The loss of federal pandemic funds that sustained education funding, increases in health care costs and overall inflation have placed a burden on local school boards.

My work to reduce health care costs includes efforts to lower prescription drug prices and reduce the administrative burden of prior authorization on providers. I am working to improve social supports for kids in schools without adding cost to school budgets.

Societal changes place more and more stress on kids, teachers, administrators and staff. Student mental health concerns increased dramatically during the pandemic. I wrote a law for schools, community members, teachers, counselors, social service organizations and others to access grant funding. The grants provide funding outside of school budgets to support kids’ mental health. That law was recognized as a national model by the National Afterschool Program.

The social service support grants and Vermont’s Afterschool Program can help reduce stress on teachers and students alike. They offer a way to respond to everyday behavioral and societal challenges that affect school culture. These social service supports in schools do not use education fund dollars and offer an example of providing local property tax relief. Others have suggested that school meals be paid for with sources other than the education fund as another way to provide such relief.

School funding is a complex byzantine labyrinth that perplexes many school board members, legislators and community members alike. How can a school board connect local spending with statewide or local property tax determinations when the funding formula is so dense? How can equitable outcomes result when students in some districts have access to more resources than others?

Some ask if money equates with improved student outcomes. There is at least one proposal before the Legislature that begins to untangle the web and improve transparency. A simple description of that proposal is that schools receive base level funding or payment per pupil. If schools decide to spend more, local property taxes could be added.

Other states rely on different school funding formulas. It can help to review those programs. As that evaluation goes ahead, we should not lose sight of including income levels when determining school funding taxes.

People on lower or fixed incomes could become harmed or leave Vermont without that consideration. One example to accommodate those on fixed incomes is New York’s STAR Program, which offers property tax relief to senior residents. Could a similar program simplify the education funding formula?

Vermont’s population is small compared to many city school districts across the country. We could develop regional districts based on cost of living. Regional administrative districts might increase purchasing power or provide teacher contracts consistent with each region’s economy, while maintaining local decision making.

The Legislature is considering how to improve transparency, cost and equitable access to public education. Vermont schools are the heart of our communities. Preserving local engagement and family participation in local school districts is critical to preserve Vermont values in public education. It could be time for a structured statewide public engagement about the future of schools, best practices, funding, student outcomes, local control, state oversight, responsibility and accountability. Your voice is important to this process. Please stay connected.

Ginny Lyons, a Democrat from Williston, represents South Burlington, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne and several other towns in the Chittenden-Southeast Senate district.