Rutland Herald
March 07,2013
March 07,2013
WOODSTOCK — The $11.3 million Woodstock
Union Middle/High School budget passed despite being defeated in one of
the towns it serves.
Woodstock Union High School Principal Greg Schilinger said the unofficial results were 985-447 with 322 blank ballots. A total of 1,754 voted on the school budget.
Bridgewater was the only town to defeat the Woodstock Union Middle/High School budget, 35-42. The budget passed in Barnard, 105-41; Pomfret, 59-28; Killington, 327-113; Reading, 45-28; and in Woodstock, 414-195.
Residents raised concerns leading up to the vote because it included layoffs and downgrading of faculty and staff from full-time to part-time positions. The layoffs include Erin Danner, the 2010 Math Teacher of the Year, an art teacher and two family/consumer science paraprofessionals.
According to the School Board, class sizes were a primary factor for cutting faculty and staff positions. The state recommends class sizes of 18 to 22 students and WUHS class sizes are currently 10 to 13 students per class.
Schilinger said the results will be made official at an upcoming School Board meeting.
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Woodstock Union High School Principal Greg Schilinger said the unofficial results were 985-447 with 322 blank ballots. A total of 1,754 voted on the school budget.
Bridgewater was the only town to defeat the Woodstock Union Middle/High School budget, 35-42. The budget passed in Barnard, 105-41; Pomfret, 59-28; Killington, 327-113; Reading, 45-28; and in Woodstock, 414-195.
Residents raised concerns leading up to the vote because it included layoffs and downgrading of faculty and staff from full-time to part-time positions. The layoffs include Erin Danner, the 2010 Math Teacher of the Year, an art teacher and two family/consumer science paraprofessionals.
According to the School Board, class sizes were a primary factor for cutting faculty and staff positions. The state recommends class sizes of 18 to 22 students and WUHS class sizes are currently 10 to 13 students per class.
Schilinger said the results will be made official at an upcoming School Board meeting.
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Comment: You can really see what's wrong with this state's educational policies in this one article. When I went to school class sizes of 30-35 were the norm and I, in spite of being a slacker, got a great education. The recommended class sizes of 18 -22 are ludicrous, never mind the actual 10 -13.
Based upon the above numbers if the school doubled its class size it probably come close to halving its budget. At least the salaries and benefits could be cut in half.
This kind of largess needs to stop if this state is going to remain financially soluble.
Real estate taxes are driving residents, second home owners, and businesses out of the state.
We're giving our kids the second best education in the country, yet they're leaving the state in droves upon graduation because there are no jobs or opportunities for growth in the state.
3 comments:
Vito, I agree with almost everything you've said here. My only disagreement is concerning optimal class size. As a former high-school teacher, I feel that more than 28 students in a class is detrimental to learning. Of course, personality dynamics can make a huge difference in either direction. In a perfect world, the lower the student-teacher ratio, the better. But we don't live in a perfect world. When I moved to Vermont I worked as a substitute teacher in several nearby communities and I was amazed to find class sizes as low as 5! To make this even more appalling, those schools had numerous teachers' aides. It's insanity for the residents of this state to continue to pay the enormous tax rate required to maintain the ridiculously low class sizes we are seeing.
Linda,
If you doubled the current class sizes they would be 20-26, short of your cutoff.
Don't get me wrong I really believe in education. I just wish the legislature had gotten one before they were elected. This ridiculous overcapacity is costing a fortune and is of no value to the quality of the education provided.
Vito
Vito,
You are absolutely correct here--I just wanted to make that one point about class size. There should be no reason not to double those class sizes, as you point out. The teachers' unions will disagree--they consistently push for more and more spending on education throughout the country. In general, history and statistics are not on their side. We've been throwing increasing amounts of money at education for decades with no demonstrable improvement.
Linda
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