School Budgets and Property Taxes
Champlain Valley Union High School
Do we honestly believe we overpay our children’s teachers?
There is a logical disconnect in our discussions about local school budgets driving property tax increases. They do and it’s been much in the news, but we’re missing a few key underlying points.
As a recent report by the State Auditor’s office makes clear. It’s not education that drives school budgets it’s healthcare…on several fronts.
“According to the Vermont Education Health Initiative, through which most teachers receive their health benefit, the plan’s costs grew from $194 million in FY10 to approximately $266 million in FY23. FY24 costs are expected to exceed $300 million, and that does not include the state’s share of most retired teachers’ health benefits.”
“A primary driver of rising education costs (and the taxes that pay for them)? Teacher health care costs. Just this year, they’re estimated to grow a staggering 16%. It doesn’t need to be like this.”
Our healthcare system is badly broken and efforts are underway by the Green Mountain Care Board, the state healthcare industry regulator to fix it. What industry can sustain 16-17% annual price increases?
But this cost doesn’t apply only to the health insurance costs of teachers and staff, healthcare costs are skyrocketing as schools compete to hire guidance counsellors, psychologists, and nurses to deal with the rapid increase in emotional symptoms occurring in their students. According to the American Psychological Assoc., more than 20% of teen have considered suicide. Our emergency rooms are filled with kids struggling with anxiety, depression, and self-harm. In order to deal with this, we need to correctly understand the problem.
Our healthcare system is irreparably broken and costs will only continue to rise as long as we see it as a profitable business.
Insurance rates are based on medical costs and are regulated. It’s not the “greedy” insurance companies at fault here.
Finally, our classrooms are the downspout of our upstream broken socio-economic systems. Besides teaching, our schools have become the shelter where we feed, babysit and care for our children.
If schools were solely about the business of education and we supported our families and children in their needs, and regulated the profitable business of healthcare, our property taxes and school budgets would be manageable.
