Vermonters for Better Education

Executive Summary
What Do We Know About Independent Schools in America?
What Do We Know About Vermont’s Independent Schools?
SURVEY OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS
CONCLUSIONS

Table 1: Enrollments and Grades Taught
Table 2: Enrollments from Least to Most
Table 3: Tuition from Lowest to Highest
Table 4: Percentage of Students on Scholarship / Publicly Funded / Tuitioned
Table 5: Percentage of Minority / SpecialEducation Students
Table 6: Faculty and Staff
Table 7: Budgets

Independent schools have been a part of Vermont since the 1700s, predating the appearance of public schools in the state.

In fact, New England itself is the home of the country’s first independent academy, Boston Latin School, founded in 1635. Respect for the independent academy, commitment to education, and Vermont’s unique tuition town voucher system have led to a diverse educational landscape for over 100 years.

Yet despite the contributions independent schools make to the state and the fact that thousands of students are educated in them every year, myths about them persist.

Some people think of them as elitist institutions only available to the advantaged. Others view them as outside the community, institutions set apart, which don’t contribute in the same way as public schools do to community life or democracy in general.
 

In fact, critics of school choice programs often refer to public schools as the "foundation of democracy," implying that they play a stronger role than independent schools in promoting civic values, advancing democracy or creating cultures of tolerance.

U.S. Department of Education data collected in 1992 and analyzed by researcher Jay Greene found the following:

Independent schools in the U.S. are integrated:

• 55 percent of public school students are in segregated classrooms (more than 90 percent or less than 10 percent minority students)
• 41 percent of independent school students are in segregated classrooms

• 31 percent of independent school student respondents "made friends with students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds"
• 18 percent of public students reported the same result
• 64 percent of independent school students reported fights between racial groups do not occur at their schools
• 29 percent of public school students reported the same

• 71 percent of independent school administrators rated their schools "outstanding in teaching values and morals"
• 11 percent of public school administrators gave their schools the same ranking
• 26 percent of independent school administrators rated their schools "outstanding" in promoting awareness of contemporary and social issues
• 17 percent of public school administrators ranked their schools "outstanding" in this area
• 29 percent of independent school administrators ranked their schools "outstanding" in promoting citizenship
• 17 percent of public school administrators rated their schools "outstanding" in this regard.

While in-state data on the same issues does not exist, the Vermont Independent Schools Association along with Vermonters for Better Education surveyed independent schools in the state to determine what contributions, if any, they make to their communities. How many students do they educate? How many people do they employ? How much tuition do they charge?

The answers to these questions paint a picture of independent schools providing rich and invaluable resources to their communities and the state through the numbers of children they educate, their commitment to access for the less advantaged, the numbers of people they employ, and the variety of collaborative programs in which they engage with their public school colleagues.

This report provides a snapshot of those contributions. And the picture is filled with good news. Vermont independent schools not only contribute to the common good of the state. The common good would be harmed by policies that in any way threaten the vitality of the independent school "industry" in Vermont. In fact, polices that could enhance the vitality of independent schools would benefit the common good.

• Range: $150 to $33,800 (Many schools charge different tuitions for different grade levels or for other reasons.)
• Average: $6,286.02 (includes all schools, including seven schools with overwhelming special needs enrollments and one ski school – all with tuitions from three to five times greater than the average)
• Median: $4,035 (includes all schools, even eight special schools)
• Average (with special schools excluded): $4,766
• Median (with special schools excluded): $3,710

• Range: from $4,000 to nearly $13 million
• Combined budgets of respondents answering this question: $56,154,547

• 47 schools report some percentage of students receive scholarship aid.
• 44 schools report that 10 percent or more of their students receive scholarship aid.
• 18 schools report that 30 percent or more of their students receive scholarship aid.
• 21 schools report that some or all of their students are publicly funded – either through town tuition money or special education funding.

• 51 schools report some percentage of their students are members of a minority group.

• 37 schools report some percentage of special education students.

• Total number of faculty, administration, staff (part-time and full-time): 1,633.5

Where Vermont independent school students have gone to college:

Alaska University, Arizona State, Bates, Berkeley, Bob Jones University, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Carlton, Castleton State, Catholic University, Champlain, Clearwater, Colby-Sawyer, Columbia, Connecticut College, Cornell, Dartmouth, Eastern Nazarene College, Gordon, Grove City, Harvard, Hollins, Indiana Wesleyan, Johnson State, Liberty, Lyndon State, McGill, Messiah, Middlebury, Moody Bible Institute, Mount Holyoke, Nassau Community College, Norwich, Notre Dame, Nyack College, Pensacola Christian, Princeton, St. Anselms, St. Lawrence, St. Michael’s, Siena, Smith, Sterling College, Swarthmore, Tulane, University of Connecticut, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNH, U Penn, UVM, Vassar, Vermont Technical College, Wesleyan, Williams, Yale and many more.

• Calvin Coolidge
• David Hale, economist
• Sen. Patrick Leahy
• US Ski Team member Jessica Kelley
• Mary McGarry Morris, author
• John Daley, Lt. Governor
• Tony Marro, Pulitzer-prizewinner
• Bob Rotella, author
• Liza Baker, author
• Mark Lundstrom (Rhodes Scholar)
• Daron Rahlves (World Cup Champion in Super G)
• Doug Lewis (Bronze Medal, Downhill World Championships)
• Michael Stackpole, author of 27 published novels
• Alesandra Navolla, actor
• Christopher Kelly, sportscaster

• "community service project each year"
• facilities used for community classes
• food drives
• "adopt a family"
• holiday project
• Masses
• fundraising for various organizations – breast cancer, September 11 fund, buddy programs
• singing at rest homes
• gifts to Angel Tree program for children whose parents are in jail
• shoe boxes to Romania for children
• support two children in orphanages
• Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives for needy families
• clothing drives
• Green Up Day
• community Haunted House
• rake leaves in the fall for neighbors
• ommunity service "winter term"
• coin drive in response tt September 11
• let community groups use building
• basketball clinics/camps
• outreach to nursing homes
• outreach to inner city Philadelphia
• work with Barre soup kitchen
• annual May festival
• parenting workshops
• serve lunch to Ripton Elders
• set up Ripton community recycling
• do water quality monitoring
• Salvation Army and elderly volunteer activities
• pet supplies for Humane Society
• United Way
• collection for Shriners Hospital
• Habitat for Humanity
• district music and drama festivals
• Christmas breakfast
• help at homeless shelter
• student council sponsors Red Cross blood drives
• Meals on Wheels
• Adopt a Great Grandparent
• Connecticut Riverfest
• sell wreaths to raise money for Red Cross
• bottle drives to benefit Afghan children
• scouts use facilities
• contribute to VPR
• hosted US Chess association Tournaments, Taiko Drum workshops
• member of two local chambers of commerce

• ski schools work with public schools on curriculum
• one kindergarten and preschool has "a close collaborative arrangement with many of the area public schools that help to provide a good continuing education for the students who move on"
• Burlington schools provide tutoring for eligible independent school students
• students attend tech center
• EEE program shares a teacher
• music and drivers ed at local high school
• meet regularly with public school administrators to find ways to share resources
• some students attend classes, vocational mostly
• play in Division 4 basketball
• have formal link to Vergennes Union High School
• testing for learning difficulties
• professional development
• share lunch program with public school
• drama presentations with public school
• share local public school’s ski program
• pen pal exchange in lower grades – students visit each other’s classroom
• after school Adventures program

• "Our students have at times been told they are unwelcome on the public high school property."
• "We will welcome the opportunity when government education learns to look at us as a resource and partner rather than a Trojan horse and irritation."

The first observation that can be made when viewing information about Vermont’s independent schools is that they are wonderfully diverse. They range in size from the tiny school with less than a handful of students to the large high school with more than a thousand. They are nonreligious and religious. They handle special needs children or specialize themselves in skiing.
 

EDUCATING MORE CHILDREN

Probing further, we can see that the majority of independent schools in the state responding to this survey have sprung up relatively recently. Nearly a third were founded in the past dozen years. More than half since 1980.

This could reflect a response to market need. Independent school enrollment has been increasing over the past three years while total numbers of Vermont students have been declining. So, not only are independent schools educating more students, they are educating a larger share of the total number of students in the state.

According to the Vermont Department of Education, total Vermont students during the past three school years are as follows:

COMMITMENT TO ACCESS

Independent schools in Vermont have a commitment to access as deep as their commitment to achievement. Tuitions at the vast majority of independent schools are lower than average per pupil spending in Vermont.

In addition, the overwhelming majority of respondents report that their students are receiving some form of financial aid. In some schools, the percentage of scholarship students is 50 percent or more.

Over half the schools report special education students are included in their enrollment figures, and at least seven schools specifically target special needs children. When public funds follow the child, independent schools are able to educate special needs children.

Even though independent school enrollment is on the rise, only a few schools provide some transportation service, which illustrates that students are able to access these schools even without a transportation plan.
 

MEASURING SUCCESS

Nearly all the respondents report using some kind of assessment tool to measure achievement. The most commonly-used tool is the Stanford Achievement Test, with the state’s New Standards Reference Exam coming in second.

Secondary schools report overwhelming majorities of students going on to college, and the postsecondary institutions which accept them range from local state universities to the most prestigious Ivy League universities.

Similarly, independent schools in Vermont boast of a diverse and community-spirited list of alums – ranging from a former president (Calvin Coolidge) to teachers, authors, ministers, doctors, and dentists, and a current state senator.
 

CONTRIBUTING TO THE COMMUNITY

Economic contributions

If independent schools were grouped together as one "industry" in Vermont, they would rank among the top ten employers in the state. More than 1,600 people work at the schools responding to this survey, and these schools only represent a little less than half of all independent schools in the state.

In addition, budgets at responding schools total nearly $60,000,000 – money that is used to purchase goods and services in the state as well as pay salaries, money that goes back into the community in some way.

Community service contributions

Just as importantly, however, independent schools foster a sense of community service among their students. Many schools reported requiring community service of their students, or sponsoring "community service days." Other community service programs are as creative as they are varied, reflecting global awareness and local concerns.

Half the schools surveyed have some form of interaction or collaboration with public schools. This can take shape in shared professional development programs, after school programs, or special needs testing.

Sadly, the one sour note sounded in this report came when several schools reported less than welcoming attitudes from their local public schools.
 

THE COMMON GOOD

Clearly, independent schools in Vermont contribute to the "common good." They educate tomorrow’s public servants, doctors, teachers, and business leaders. They instill a sense of community service in their students. They employ enough people to rank among the top employers in the state. And together, their budgets represent a substantial amount of money flowing into their communities.

They do all this while continually striving to open their doors as far as possible to the less-advantaged through reasonable tuitions and scholarship assistance.

It could be argued, in fact, that Vermont’s independent schools play an integral part in the state. Policies that enhance independent schools’ ability to thrive are therefore in the common good. Policies that inhibit their ability to survive detract from the common good.