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Welcome! Central VT Chamber Annual Meeting 2007 Controlling the Cost of Education

Welcome! Central VT Chamber Annual Meeting 2007 Controlling the Cost of Education. Crisis on the Horizon?. Education productivity, Taxes and Costs. Times-Argus. “William Mathis may hold the most radical position in the group.”

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Welcome! Central VT Chamber Annual Meeting 2007 Controlling the Cost of Education

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  1. Welcome!Central VT ChamberAnnual Meeting 2007Controlling the Costof Education

  2. Crisis on the Horizon? Education productivity, Taxes and Costs

  3. Times-Argus • “William Mathis may hold the most radical position in the group.” • “Vermont schools are the envy of the nation, both in student teacher ratios and in student test scores.” • “Vermont schools are terrific and relatively inexpensive – a bargain.”

  4. Things On Which We May Agree • High spending compared to other states • High achievement compared to other states • Low spending compared to other nations • High achieving compared to other nations.

  5. Quick Themes • Educational Quality • Economic Development and Education • Vermont Tax Burdens • School Cost Increases • What do we value? • Privatization and Consolidation

  6. I. Vermont Educational Quality • “Smartest State” First • Child Well-being Second • NAEP Scores (combined) Third • Graduate productivity Fifth • Dropouts Third lowest • Teen death rates Sixth lowest • Violent crime Third lowest Sources: Morgan Quinto, Kids Count, VSAC

  7. II. Economic Development and Education • Businesses have registered concerns about education and economic development since 1900 • Taylor Report (1910) • Sputnik (1957) • Nation at Risk (1983) • If the economy was collapsing due to education, why are we the world’s premier economic power?

  8. Most Competitive Countries: Top Ten and Tax Burdens 1. Switzerland 30.3% • Finland 45.9% • Sweden 50.2% 4. Denmark 48.9% 5. Singapore -- 6. United States 26.4% 7. Japan -- 8. Germany 36.0% 9. Netherlands 39.2% 10. United Kingdom 35.8% • Second Vermont Rep 31.3% SOURCES: World Economic Forum, OECD, Tax Foundation

  9. Why did the U.S. slip to number six? • Not because of education. • According to the World Economic Forum, the U. S. ranking fell because of: • U. S. trade deficits • U. S. Budget Deficits • Low savings rate • Regressive tax cuts • Increased spending on defense • Increased spending on homeland security

  10. Rankings of “Positive Business Climate” and Economic Development • The eight major state ratings of “positive business climate” are all based on low business taxes and less regulation (minimum wage, few environmental controls) • Scientifically, these factors do not predict economic growth • 34 of 50 states are on somebody’s top ten • 42 states are in somebody’s bottom half SOURCE: Economic Policy Institute, Levin, Harvard Civil Rights Project

  11. Primary Factors in Business Location • Labor costs • Cultural Amenities • Climate • Energy Costs • Transportation • Education • SOURCE: Economic Policy Institute, World Economic Forum

  12. 1. Cashiers 2. Salespersons 3. Nurses (260 openings)* 4. Teacher Assistants 5. Child Care 6. Food Prep/servers 7. Home Health 8. Counter attendants 9. Carpenters 10.Cooks SOURCE: VT. Dept of Labor 11. Food Prep workers 12. Stock clerks 13. Janitors/cleaners 14. Bookkeepers/ clerks 15. Human Serv’s Asst’s 16. Elem Teachers (141)* 17.Landscape/Gardeners 18. Laborers 19. Maids 20. Office clerks Why are Young People Leaving?The Top 20 Vermont Jobs

  13. Twenty-first Century International Work Force? • Only two of the top 20 jobs require a college education • Of the top 50 VT job openings, the only wealth producing jobs are: • Team Assemblers (102 needed) • Farm-workers (89 needed) • Construction/Extraction supervisors (61) • General/Operations Managers (58) • Vermont has 8000 H.S. graduates per year

  14. III. Vermont Tax Burdens • A high state tax only in relation to a low tax nation • OECD Countries (30 of them) 26th • VT State and Local rank 10th • VT Federal, state & local rank 15th • VT Tax burden unchanged since 1986 • Between 10.0% and 10.6% • Vermont GSP growth (1997-06) 7th SOURCES: U. S. Commerce department; the Tax Foundation, OECD

  15. Vermont School Tax Burdens • Despite the hue and cry, tax burdens have decreased. (percent of AGI, with prebates but not rebates). • FY-96 5.42% • FY06 4.94% • Income grew faster than taxes (Cillo)

  16. IV. Rising Education Costs • School spending is 90% personnel • “Students are down, Employees are up” says the Governor • Total Employee Change 2003-06 1.8% • Data Processing + 126.4% • AV-Technology + 91.24% • Business Office Cler. + 33.0% • Psych., SLPs + 10.7% • Assessment Directors ? • Teachers & aides + 0.45%

  17. “We Shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.” • NCLB 588 mandates, decreasing funds • National average + 27.7% • 410 memos • 166 “Advisorys” • 92 Required actions • Medicaid • Bullying, hazing, harassment, bus idling, etc.

  18. Caps – A Monkey-Wrench on the Safety Valve • Caps do not address either the social or economic problems of the state • Caps do not address the cost drivers • Salaries @ 3% 1.8 budget points • Special Education 1.2 • Benefits (health) 1.5 • Technology, mandates, 1.0 • Buses and boilers 1.0

  19. V. Sustainability and Affordability • We afford and sustain those things that we value. • What do we want to Sustain and Afford? • Our “smartest state” label? • Our high achievement? • Our student/ teacher ratio? • Our democratic heritage? • Our child health and safety records?

  20. VI. Privatization Panaceas • In an increasingly ethnically, culturally and economically diverse world, public education offers the best hope (perhaps the only hope) of unifying a culturally and economically fragmented society. • The research evidence is unequivocal. Free-market approaches to education lead to social fragmentation without academic improvement.

  21. VII. Consolidation Considerations • There are good reasons to consider consolidation. However, • Do not expect it to save considerable money. • Small schools and districts moderate the effects of poverty (Matthew Studies) • Consolidation decreases meaningful citizen involvement

  22. VIII. The future of public education • “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children. Any other ideal is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy” - John Dewey • The future depends upon our vision of society and how we act upon it

  23. William J. Mathis • Contact at wmathis@sover.net • (802) 247-5757 • Background papers can be found at RNESU.org • January 2007

  24. Ten Moral Concerns of NCLBNational Council of Churches “Indeed, the coexistence of neglect of schools and neglect of other aspects of the life of people who are poor makes it clear that no effort to improve education in the United States can ignore the realities of racial and class discrimination in our society as a whole.”

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