Let’s face it; Vermont’s education budget needs some help. Property taxes are on the rise. Tuition prices continue to grow, and with Governor Douglas’ proposal for “no reduction in Education Fund spending in 2009 and is proposing essentially level fund spending for fiscal 2010.” What this ideally means for Vermonter’s is that the projected $2.2 million surplus from fiscal 2010, combined with the projected $18.3 million for fiscal 2009, allows for a 2 cent reduction on property taxes throughout the state.
Property taxes are not the only source of revenue for education spending. Homeowners may actually be relieved to find out that “the state will collect no more residential taxpayers next year than it has this year.” The education fund is to credit the general fund for the transfer of almost $300 million, expected sometime in fiscal 2010.
The idea is to restructure the distribution of money among early education, K-12, and higher education. While Vermont is among the highest in the nation in spending for primary and secondary education, that is not something to hooray about when Vermont spends very little on early education and higher education. With a state budget of just over $4 billion, including federal funds and property tax, approximately 24 percent will go to the education fund.
The funding for K-12 education is expected to increase $63 million in the $1.4 billion education fund. The question that is left unanswered is where can cuts actually be made within the education budget. In Governor Douglas’s inaugural address he stated:
“The education fund has not shared any of the sacrifice seen by other areas of state government. If we continue to excuse education spending from equal treatment, we force health care and human services – the lion’s share of the remaining general fund – to shoulder the burden of balancing a responsible budget.”
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