Response to Don Tinney (VT-NEA) Remarks

Vermont taxpayers hard hit by the recent property tax increases and in the line of fire for another increase this year may be alarmed to know Don Tinney, the President of the state teachers’ union, recently said “We’re not spending too much money on education. We’re having a difficult time funding it.”

The cost of public education is up an astonishing 26.6 percent during the last 3 years. Recent annual increases of about $185-million have contributed to a state education budget now topping $2-billion. While every taxpayer is hard hit, some low-income homeowners are at the point of being unable to afford to pay their property taxes. And, the State Education Fund is inadequate to pay the rapidly rising costs.

Vermont already has a higher cost per student than every single state in the country, save one. At $26,970 per student, Vermont is well above the national average (less than $20k).[1] An increase in spending rivaling last year’s increase is an abuse of Vermont taxpayers.

Inefficient management of teacher resources in many schools has led to Vermont having the worst student-teacher ratio in the nation while student performance is on a steady downward trend.

Avoiding further tax increases will require cost-cutting. But, Tinney’s organization, a major player in Vermont education, has signaled it is not on board with controlling costs. His words have led to some “I told you so” moments among critics of the legislative commission named to recommend cost control measures. The critics predicted the commission, dominated by representatives of teacher and school administrator organizations, would protect their members’ entrenched interests instead of offering fresh and innovative ideas.

Those interests appear to have been protected. After six months of work, the Commission on the Future of Public Education failed to deliver required cost control recommendations to the incoming 2025 legislature. And now the Vermont NEA is openly advocating that Vermont should continue to spend more and to tax more.

Meanwhile, the Vermont NEA will advocate salary increases for its member teachers in districts where contracts are up for renewal this year. This will only reinforce Tinney’s glib remark about the “difficulty of funding education.” 

The Vermont NEA and the public education administrator groups should understand that guarding their narrow self-interests, at students’ and taxpayers’ expense, ultimately will damage their members too. They should instead apply their professional expertise to finding workable solutions to some very serious problems.

 

[1] https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics

 

Mill Moore is a retired Vermonter who occasionally contributes opinion pieces to Campaign for Vermont.

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  • Ed Loewenton
    followed this page 2025-01-22 19:43:30 -0500
  • Butch Shaw
    followed this page 2025-01-22 12:59:29 -0500
  • Mill Moore
    published this page in News 2025-01-22 08:14:20 -0500

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