Vermont’s K-12 school funding system is often touted as one of the most progressive systems in the country. But at home in the Green Mountain State, education officials say inequality remains baked in.
Administrators often say, for example, that more affluent districts tend to pay teachers the best, while schools with the neediest kids see higher turnover and less-experienced educators.
To see if that holds true, VtDigger analyzed data from the Agency of Education on average teacher salaries and student poverty in every public school in Vermont.
Though the data doesn’t show a perfect linear relationship, there is a clear trend. The best-paid teachers — many clustered in Chittenden County — are generally found in the districts with the lowest concentrations of poverty.
Teachers at the Marion Cross School in Norwich, one of the wealthiest towns in the state, had an average salary of $76,849, and only 4% of students were on free and reduced lunch.
There are some interesting outliers. Burlington’s schools, notably, have higher percentages of children on free-and-reduced lunch than the rest of the state, but its teachers also make far more. One Queen City elementary, the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes, had an average teacher salary topping $74,000 last year; 68% of its students were on free-and-reduced lunch.
But even within Chittenden County, the district with the highest overall rates of poverty — Winooski — is also the one with the lowest pay. Teachers in the Onion City made, on average, $62,362 last year. Nearby districts all paid well over $10,000 more. In South Burlington, the average wage topped $80,000.
Nicole Mace, the executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association, said it would be worthwhile to analyze whether there are geographic patterns at play — urban districts, and districts along the I-89 corridor, are generally believed to pay better.
“It’s a good thing to call attention to. And I think it’s complicated,” she said.
Geography is certainly key for Beth O’Brien, the principal of the Richford Junior/Senior High School. The average teacher salary in the district is $49,629, far below the statewide average of $60,650. The low pay, coupled with the fact that Richford is within easy commuting distance to the Burlington area, means the district has a tough time getting educators to stick around.
“I have said for years that we are a training ground for Chittenden County,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said younger, less experienced recruits can certainly bring something to the table that veterans can’t. But it’s tough on kids to see their teachers rotate through so quickly, and it’s difficult for schools to work toward long-term goals when a new crop of teachers needs to be caught up each year. The labor market for teachers is also particularly tight right now, which means the district often has to hire candidates on a provisional license.
“It’s a moral imperative to have the right people in the classroom,” she said.