Two out-of-state researchers, including one who formerly taught at the Cabot School, have concluded a report for the Penn State College of Education’s Center on Rural Education and Communities, providing research against consolidation of schools in Vermont, offering other changes instead.
The two Penn State researchers, Daniella Hall and Ian Burfoot-Rochford, both doctoral candidates at Penn State University, will present their findings in the report, “Vermont Educational Reform: A Balanced Approach to Equity and Funding,” to the House Education Committee 9 a.m. Thursday.
The two doctoral students in Educational Leadership at Penn State investigated proposed legislative reforms to Vermont’s educational system, according to a news release.
According to the announcement, some reforms that have been proposed, including one from the Campaign for Vermont, call for “drastic statewide school district consolidation.”
As many as 100 separate proposals for education reform have come before the Legislature, said House Education Committee Chairman David Sharpe, D-Bristol.
Sharpe on Monday said he had not yet seen the report, and that freshman Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-West Dover, is bringing the Penn State researchers before the Legislature this week.
Other proposals, including one from the Education Finance Working Group, a committee convened over the summer by House Speaker Shap Smith, could lead to undermining “the economic and social stability in the state’s numerous small towns,” the Penn State researchers suggest.
Burfoot-Rochford and Hall state in their findings, “Such proposals fail to account for the critical role small schools play in sustaining their local communities. We assert that Vermont’s small schools are one of the state’s strengths, not a problem, and should be capitalized to sustain local communities.”
What the authors will propose on Thursday when they testify before the House Education Committee, is “a balanced plan that revises current funding systems to decrease educational costs, and redesigns the Small Schools Grant to strengthen cultural and economic health in rural towns. Designed to meet the specific needs of Vermont communities, the plan honors local control, fiscal responsibility and effective educational improvement.”
It calls specifically for two reforms, according to the news release sent by Penn State. The first suggests, “Vermont should reform Act 60/68 funding structures by establishing parameters for school budget items funded through the education fund; and lowering the excess spending threshold, while also implementing size-based exemptions to ensure equity regardless of school size.”
The researchers also call for the restructuring of the small schools grant. They recommend a competitive application process to incentivize school partnerships with families, communities, and businesses.
“Our plan proposes a path forward, where public education makes living and working in rural communities a sustainable choice in Vermont,” the authors write.
Burfoot-Rochford is a native of Vermont, and was an elementary school teacher in Cabot. He was a recipient of the 2013 Rural Global Teacher Fellowship. Hall was a schoolteacher in Maine, her home state.
Multiple proposed reforms developed to address Vermont’s rising financial costs recommend consolidation as an cost-saving measure. However, after researching more than a century of data on consolidation, Burfoot-Rochord and Hall found no concrete evidence that district consolidation would produce beneficial financial or educational outcomes for Vermont.
“National and local research clearly shows consolidation does not produce financial savings or lower per-pupil costs,” the authors stated.
A summary of the report to be presented Thursday states, “Vermont faces a critical juncture in educational reform. Educational costs are rising while student populations are decreasing, and Vermont’s schools have persistent achievement gaps,” the authors state.
“A century of research strongly suggests neither district consolidation nor the elimination of the Small Schools Grant will produce needed reforms,” the report goes on. “Instead, we recommend a balanced approach that revises current funding to decrease local school budgets and redesigns the Small Schools Grant to strengthen cultural and economic health in rural communities.”
“Our plan honors local control, fiscal responsibility, and effective educational improvement,” the authors go on. “Now is the time to invest in the futuristic needs of students and rural communities.”
The report notes that consolidation efforts do not necessarily translate into reduced costs, citing several examples.
The research report states, “…both national and local research clearly shows consolidation does not produce financial savings or lower per pupil costs.”
“Benefits of district consolidation include greater range and diversity in course offerings and increased innovation,” the report notes, “Yet these transitions have unexpected costs, including greater teacher dissatisfaction, more reported student discipline problems and increased staff attrition.
In short, the potential gains offered by district consolidation are offset by the negatives, the researchers stated in their findings. “To conclude, over a century of research strongly suggests consolidation will not resolve Vermont’s educational or economic challenges.”
