As Vermont moves to consolidate our pubic schools, we are losing sight of what is best for our children. Our schools are cutting teaching staff, as well as teaching support staff, and bulking up their administration staff. They are now creating “coaches” to go into the schools and “coach” teachers (who are already highly qualified). These very well-paid coaches, who have little or no training as educators, have nothing to do with the  students.
So now there is less staff to actually WORK and interact with the students, while more money continues to be pumped into the well-paid supervisory sector. Sounds like corporate America to me. When school districts whine about the staff to student ratio being too low, they aren’t talking about teacher to student ratio. They are talking about a bulked up staff of highly paid administrators who have nothing to do with actual learning. Their well-appointed offices and expense-paid getaways also do nothing for the students, as the teachers continue to buy hundreds of dollars worth of school supplies with their own money.
Taxpayers need to pay attention to where their money is going. Be informed and be aware where all your money actually goes. It’s time for some serious accountability.
Darin Maloney
Monkton