FRS 001I — Sec. 001 — (1 unit) — CRN 53261 — W 2:10-3:00 pm — 1007 EU3
Who Pays? The Politics of Funding K-12 Education

Instructors: Debbie Niemeier, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and
Enrique Lavernia, Dean, College of Engineering

Description: In 1996, the Vermont State Supreme Court ruled that Vermont's existing educational funding system was unconstitutional and inequitable. Up to that point, Vermont's school funding dated to the 19th century and like many states, relied on local property taxes. Under this funding model, the wealthiest towns assessed the lowest property tax rates and had the highest spending per pupil, while poorer towns had higher tax rates and lower spending per pupil. In response to the Court's decision, the Vermont Legislature passed the Equal Educational Opportunity Act (ACT 60) in 1997, which was designed to reform K-12 educational funding. Act 60 restructured the educational funding system by replacing widely disparate local property taxes with a single statewide property tax and instituted an additional $o.o4 tax on gasoline to fund education. Two aspects of the plan were unique and somewhat remarkable. First, Vermont is the only state in the country that has implemented a so-called "green tax shift," using gas taxes for educational funding. Second, implementing a single statewide property tax produced a slightly lower per pupil spending rate than the previous educational funding model based on local property taxes ($5,010 per pupil versus $6,480). To offset this decrease, communities are allowed to increase local property taxes, but if they do, they must also donate a percentage of those taxes to the state, which will be used for the benefit of poorer towns.

Has Act 60 resulted in educational equity? In this class, we will examine the ACT 60 legislation and the subsequent four-years of implementation. We will look at local and statewide funding patterns using databases from the Vermont Department of Education and examine how towns, the media, and local residents view the implementation of Act 60.

Format: The seminar will meet for one each week. Students and the instructor will discuss assigned readings each week. Students will be divided into groups to investigate each week's main focus. Students will write one 5-page essay answering the question: "Has Act 60 resulted in educational equity?" Grading: Students will be required to prepare a short paper (5 pages) answering the question: "Has Act 60 resulted in educational equity?" The course grade will be based on the quality of their essay (50%) and their frequency and quality of participation in the seminars (50%).

About the Instructors: Dr. Niemeier is a Professor and Department Chair for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She has taught in the Davis Honors Program multiple times on topics ranging from examining the welfare to work reform program to a seminar aimed at evaluating the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China. Her research interests include air quality - transportation modeling, air quality -transportation policy and regulatory frameworks, nanotechnology for particulate matter sampling, sustainability, and transportation project delivery.

Dr. Lavernia is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Dean of the College of Engineering. He has received numerous awards including the University of California, Irvine Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and Materials Science Teacher of the Year. His research is in the area of materials processing, metal atomization, solidification and physical behavior and he directs activities at the Smart Spray Engineering Research Center.