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Researcher to House Education: focus on school size, not just district lines, to curb per-pupil costs
Summary
At a Feb. 6 House Education hearing, academic Bruce Baker told lawmakers that per-pupil costs rise sharply in very small schools and that reconfiguring school sizes — not merely redrawing district governance — offers the clearest path to longer-term savings and more comprehensive programs, though capital costs and community impacts remain barriers.
Bruce Baker, an academic researcher who has studied Vermont school finance, told the House Education committee on Feb. 6 that “it's more about school size than district size” when it comes to per-pupil instructional costs. Baker said districts’ per-pupil spending levels off around about 2,000 pupils, while instructional and staffing costs rise for very small schools, producing the largest cost spikes.
Baker testified that drawing new governance lines around existing schools can cut only modest administrative costs but does not change school-level staffing ratios that drive the largest expenditures. “If you…
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