(In keeping with our policy of promoting diaries by statewide candidates. – promoted by GMD)
This week is Teacher Appreciation week, and we should all reflect on those teachers who challenged us and made us think differently about the world. Unfortunately, we must also watch closely and speak out in opposition to a radical plan made by the Dubie-Douglas team that will compromise our strong public schools.
By most standards, Vermont’s schools are doing very well and our success is due to the remarkable work of our teachers and our community-based school system.
Nevertheless, Governor Douglas insists we need to radically change Vermont’s school system. Under the umbrella of “Challenges for Change,” the Dubie-Douglas administration is claiming to improve educational outcomes and reduce costs by super-sizing school boards, creating cookie-cutter curricula, and fundamentally destroying the relationship between the community and education that has made Vermont’s schools strong.
This is not to say that change is not necessary.
With a diminishing school population, we must find ways to modernize our education system. In addition, while we have a very strong public school program, we can always find areas for improvement. But the proposal offered by the Dubie-Douglas administration is not the change we need, and will only harm our schools, not improve them.
In these tough economic times, we must look for ways to trim budgets and lower costs. Anyone in the business world would tell you that the first place to look for savings is not at the point of delivery, namely our teachers, but instead on the back office and overhead administrative costs. By consolidating such expenses, there are some cost-saving measures that can be implemented without putting our strong educational system at risk.
On my website I have proposed several areas in which we can reduce costs – including reducing the number of superintendents by two-thirds to reduce overhead – while making sure our current fiscal challenges do not compromise the future of our state’s children.
To read about how we can make smart reductions you can visit my website, http://mattdunne.com/issues/ed…
We all appreciate the teachers who worked hard to provide us with a quality education. As we reflect on their influence on our lives we should also remember that it will be teachers who will be preparing the next generation of Vermonters. This Teacher Appreciation Day, ask Governor Douglas and Lieutenant Governor Dubie to show their appreciation for our teachers, parents and students by rethinking these radical changes to our educational system.
Oh boy this guy cracks me up. He led with his mouth and now he is against Challenges. Look at some of the early clips. He was either no where to be soon or jumping on the C4C bandwagon.
Sue,
I joined some colleagues at the forum in South Burlington. We were all surprised he took such a soft stand on Challenges. I don’t have a link fot the forum
Matt Dunne has repeatedly stated his concerns and opposition to Challenges for Change.
A month ago on this same website Matt stated in no uncertain terms that C4C was the kind of thinking that has to be brought to an end in Montpelier. (http://www.greenmountaindaily.com/diary/6160/challenges-lacks-trust-time-and-transparency)
Additionally, in the televised VPT debate, Matt was clear on the issue. The video of that debate is here: (http://greenmountaindaily.com/diary/6152/challenges-for-change-is-a-bait-and-switch-tactic) Matt also had posted the Brattleboro Reformer editorial against C4C on his Facebook page, though that link appears to be dead.
In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve volunteered for Matt in this campaign, I don’t intend to come across as non-biased in this race. But as someone who will be happy to vote for any of the five Democrats in the field over Brian Dubie in November, I find it troubling that posts about Matt continue to receive uncharacteristically negative responses, often based in arguments where there is clear evidence to the contrary. I don’t really know where it’s springing from, or why, but in a campaign that has been very positive, it seems out of place.
Every piece of evidence suggests that Vermonters consistently both understand the price of and choose to pay for the highest quality education in the country. The vast majority of school budgets pass every year; even over these two recession years the budget pass rate was way over 95%.
So, before changes are made, we need to acknowledge that Vermonters want their local schools and always choose to pay for them. If Dubie doesn’t like that, he can urge people to reject their school budgets. Most will ignore him, just like the Legislature has begun to ignore Governor Douglas (at last).
As to Matt’s points about costs, I’m afraid my 5 years on the Strafford School board don’t back up the assertion that administration costs are driving higher taxes. My analysis showed that the money we spent on the supervisory union was a very good investment; the staff there found ways to combine purchasing efforts across the district and beyond to save money. We need professionals to hire and manage principals, and furthermore, we need centralized special education help to hold down those costs.
A recent budget broke down as follows:
25% Certified Teacher salary plus benefits
15% Other staff S&B
27% Special Education
15% Buildings/Grounds/Transportation (not Sp Ed)
2% Supervisory Union
6% Other
I’m just not sure where whittling away at the 2% saves us very much. And, as I said above, I’m certain that the voters both understood and voted without objection to the spending.