To The Editor:
It was with some chagrin that I read about the elimination of two teachers and one nonteaching staffer in the January 12 issue of The Valley Reporter, as I thought merging school districts under Act 46 would eliminate largely redundant overheads and administration.
So I searched the internet to find out how Vermont spending and staffing compares with other states in the nation. I came across the National Education Association (NEA) website (www.nea.org) which publishes this sort of information annually, most recently in April 2016. It was enlightening to learn that the NEA 2015 rankings show Vermont’s public schools are:
• No. 50 in average daily attendance as a percentage of fall enrollment, 75.3 percent versus the national average of 97.1 percent (Table B5).
•No. 1 in spending per student at $27,962 – the highest in the nation (Table F2), about 26 percent-plus higher than No. 2, more than 2.2 times the national average of $12,578. This increases to $33,855 (Table F3), which is 2.7 times the national average of $12,730 if the average daily attendance is considered.
•No. 51 student-teacher ratio – the lowest number of students per teacher in the nation at 9.7 versus the national average of 15.8 (Table C6). This falls to 7.3 students per teacher if the average daily attendance is considered, versus the national average of 15.4 (Table C7).
•No. 11 in noninstructional staff at 59.2 per 10,000 pupil (Table C4), more than 37 percent higher than the national average which is 43.1 per 10,000.
•No. 19 in the number of school districts in the state, while No. 50 (the smallest) in school enrollment (Table B1/B2).
Perhaps there is some room to make adjustments.
Here is a link to the report: www.nea.org/assets/docs/2016_NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates.pdf.
George J. Schaefer
Warren
