School Web Map • Table of Districts • Student Performance • Current Spending • National Data • Poetry • Stories

School Web Map
This interactive map shows the sending and receiving patters that students have followed historically in Vermont as they make their way from preschool through high school graduation. Schools are shown as dots, which when clicked provide more information. The lines between the dots show the paths most students take on their PreK – 12 educational career. Please let us know how this map might be improved.

Where Students Live
This map shows how the population of Vermont is distributed. Any re-design of school organization must begin with where students actually live today. Notice that these settlement patterns follow the dictates of the mountains and rivers of our geography, and have little or no relationship to town or school-district lines. Notice also that the locations of our school webs follow very closely to these organic settlement patterns.

Table of School Webs
This table lists the School Webs that are shown on the interactive map above. They provide perhaps an outline of what districts might look like if they were based on our existing organic K-12 patterns of sending and receiving schools. (We’ve just begun to develop this table, working from north to south, and will appreciate all corrections and suggestions.)

Map of Vermont School Districts from Vermont GIS

Who drew the district lines?

Student Performance
Vermont’s system of small schools with small classes under community control has allowed our students to outpace the nation for the last 40 years. Forbes magazine ranks Vermont in the top ten for student test scores in 2024.

The World Population Review for 2025 ranks Vermont’s schools in the top five of states.

Metrics included high school graduation rate among low-income students, math and reading scores, median SAT and ACT scores, pupil-teach ratio, the share of armed students, the number of school shootings between 2000 and June 2020, bullying incidence rate, and more.

Vermont has for the last 20 years ranked exceeded the national average in SAT scores.

Vermont students, with their small classes in small schools under community control, persistently scored above the rest of the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Only in 2017, when Governor Scott took office, did this achievement gap begin to diminish.

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Current Spending
The vast majority of Vermont school districts today spend between $17,000 and $22,000 per student, with an average of $20,000. Spending is not significantly correlated with district size.

District Name	Spending per Student	Students
Morgan	14,616.50	40
Mt. Anthony UHSD #14	15,068.48	1678
Pittsfield	15,791.74	53
Stamford	15,905.71	106
Somerset	15,962.44	2
Derby	16,314.93	340
Holland	16,414.73	54
Granville-Hancock USD 80	16,730.12	93
Westfield	17,354.25	36
Fairfax	17,679.30	884
Georgia	17,769.31	856
Northern Mountain Valley UUSD	17,781.97	1068
Quarry Valley UUSD 70	17,790.24	1013
Colchester	17,932.20	2284
Barre UUSD	17,977.73	2205
Lamoille North MUSD U058B	18,017.30	857
Slate Valley UUSD	18,103.06	1286
Enosburgh-Richford UUSD	18,159.38	922
Echo Valley Community SD 67	18,220.20	293
Rutland Town	18,244.41	526
Paine Mountain SD 68	18,245.03	1025
Fletcher	18,352.01	204
Ferdinand	18,396.17	3
Ira	18,399.74	43
North Bennington ID	18,515.21	161
Rockingham	18,580.87	458
Waits River Valley USD U036	18,617.05	357
Otter Valley USD 53	18,622.99	1259
Mt. Mansfield UUSD	18,633.62	2484
Stannard	18,654.37	15
Brighton	18,659.86	127
Barstow USD 49	18,680.88	290
Lake Region Union Elem-Middle SD	18,764.98	734
Lake Region UHSD #24	18,797.00	382
Elmore Morristown UUSD	18,847.37	791
Halifax	18,978.89	100
St. Johnsbury	19,012.71	1101
North Country Sr UHSD #22	19,062.53	757
Winhall	19,146.24	229
Missisquoi Valley SD	19,148.80	1775
Southwest Vermont UESD	19,234.95	1233
First Branch USD 82	19,320.38	363
Buels Gore	19,334.62	4
South Burlington	19,372.88	2561
Troy	19,427.72	182
Kingdom East UUSD	19,494.74	1821
Bellows Falls UHSD #27	19,666.00	385
Montpelier-Roxbury UUSD 71	19,670.59	1221
Windham	19,713.12	19
Readsboro	19,759.29	68
Milton	19,763.88	1498
Charleston	19,851.56	114
Sharon	19,882.17	281
Champlain Valley USD 56	20,095.44	4052
Essex-Westford EC USD 51	20,140.72	3656
Rutland City	20,171.72	1917
Arlington	20,181.40	358
Stowe	20,187.25	745
Stratton	20,198.86	59
Mt. Ascutney SD	20,229.08	597
Cambridge	20,261.68	290
Wolcott	20,291.82	255
Rochester- Stockbridge 81	20,345.92	181
Strafford	20,455.88	170
Mettawee SD 84	20,484.99	301
North Country Jr UHSD #22	20,487.77	263
Sandgate	20,510.09	63
White River USD 79	20,598.83	566
Oxbow UUSD	20,606.18	655
Wells Spring UUSD 69	20,658.09	266
Green Mountain USD	20,742.90	668
Weathersfield	20,813.40	355
Cabot	20,852.44	164
Taconic & Green Regional SD 63	20,859.34	1662
Lowell	20,866.37	85
Champlain Islands UUSD	20,997.26	407
Newport Town	21,013.66	144
Maple Run USD 57	21,042.10	2427
Mill River USD 52	21,077.02	718
Hazen UHSD #26	21,101.37	323
Hartford	21,236.58	1312
Danville	21,240.77	311
Blue Mountain Union U021	21,310.58	385
Burlington	21,325.14	3703
Mountain View UESD	21,390.29	320
Canaan	21,447.68	147
Alburgh	21,487.38	313
South Hero	21,500.40	196
Orange Southwest USD 59	21,523.53	858
Athens Grafton SD	21,538.93	73
Addison Central USD 55	21,733.42	1702
Springfield	21,825.81	1247
Vernon	21,834.52	320
Westminster	21,910.78	221
Lincoln SD	22,172.88	188
Ludlow-Mt. Holly UUSD	22,204.46	328
Coventry	22,233.81	176
Harwood USD	22,388.42	1720
Twinfield USD U033	22,590.06	330
River Valleys USD	22,626.45	268
Peacham	22,797.18	97
Caledonia Cooperative SD 78	22,841.45	574
Hartland	22,841.81	419
Craftsbury	22,887.48	159
Norwich	22,957.65	595
Newport City	23,006.56	302
Washington Central UUSD	23,022.06	1377
Thetford	23,064.97	402
Winooski ID	23,089.61	898
Northeast Kingdom Choice SD 65	23,143.65	297
Mt Abraham USD 61	23,150.99	1226
Lamoille North MUSD U058A	23,309.23	586
Windham Southeast SD	23,445.45	2204
Windsor Central UUSD 76	23,509.31	918
Twin Valley USD 75	23,790.52	376
Addison Northwest USD 54	23,798.73	907
West River MUED 72B	25,810.68	247
Jay	26,734.85	41
West River MUED 72A	27,106.76	233
Marlboro	27,809.39	133
Rivendell Interstate School District	28,775.89	296
Searsburg	29,000.11	18
Total		84415
Mean	20,468.28	698
Median	20,276.75	355.94
Correlation		(0.07)

National data

Public School Rankings by State, compiled by the World Population Institute, and based on a variety of measurements, put Vermont fourth in the nation in terms of school quality.

School District Size by State

Spending vs. Quality
School spending and school quality in the United States are highly correlated. The more you spend per student, the higher the quality of your schools.

Taxation

Much of Vermont’s inequality in schooling and tax rates stems from the vast differences in taxable wealth per student among our towns. We have wrestled for 50 years with this problem, hoping to remedy it with tweaks to the education aid formula, none of which have worked. And the inequality is only getting worse. This table shows the taxable property per student in our towns.

Poetry

Talking Education Plan Blues

Scott and Saunders needed a plan
To save our schools from the moneyman.
Instead of Vermonters, ready and quick,
They chose Picus and Odden and Augenblick.
…Now who are they?
…Well, let’s find out…

Now Picus is pleasant, from Californ’
And Odden from Wisconsin drawn
Cost-cutting specialists, very slick,
Teamed with Colorado’s Augenblick.
… Think they’ve ever been
… To Enosburg Falls or Middletown Springs?

They help politicians who’d like to cut
What’s spent on pubic schools: too much!
So if paying taxes makes you sick,
Hire Picus and Odden and Augenblick.
… Sort of like Elon Musk
… Government efficiency…

Ignoring Vermont’s own educators,
(Alas, we’re only small potatoes,)
In their spreadsheets boxes ticked
By Picus and Odden and Augenblick.
… Mathematical formulas
… Plus, takeaway, times, aaaaaand guzinta…

They have a model that they apply
To any state that might stop by.
It’s all done with arithmetic,
Say Picus and Odden and Augenblick.
… An Excel sim-u- lation
… That’s what they call it…

The plan they gave us is boilerplate,
Not right for our Green Mountain State.
Cutting taxes, that’s the trick,
For Picus and Odden and Augenblick.
… It looks like they gave the very same plan …
… to Michigan, Illinois and Maryland.

Let’s instead design our own
Plan that’s custom and homegrown;
Vermonters’ body politic
Needs neither Picus nor Odden nor Augenblick.
… Hand-crafted in Vermont…
… Custom-made, or-ganic.

Stories

The Three Little Vermonters

…and the Big Bad Tax Man

Once upon a time, there lived three average Vermonters, neighbors in the same town. They were very much alike. Each lived in a home of about 1700 square feet on a small plot of land and enjoyed an income of about $60,000 per year. 

One was a teacher. One was a landlord. The third lived off his investments. They loved living in the Green Mountain State.

One day the Big Bad Taxman came along. He knocked on the door of the first house.

“Little teacher, little teacher, let me in!”
(He was correcting papers with a pencil and pen.)

“I see that your income is about 60K.”
“That’s right Mr. Taxman, it’s on public display.”

“So first six percent for Social Security,
Then another for Medicare, to support your maturity.”

“That seems like a lot — four thousand at least,
And by the time I can use it, it might not exist!”

“Let’s move on to income: for the Feds twelve percent,
Then five more for the State – all money well-spent.”

“Twenty-four percent, it looks like you’re taking;
This makes me sad, it’s my bank you are breaking!”

“But that’s not all: there’s your Property Tax:
For your house and land, we’ll need 5K in my sack.”

“Twenty-one thousand! You’ve got to be joking;
I’m not a rich man; my finances are choking!.”

“And don’t forget sales tax: a full six percent
And nine for your meals, that you can’t circumvent.

For you that’s another two thousand dollars…”
“Please stop! I give up! I just want to holler!

Of my income you’ve grabbed thirty-eight percent.
It doesn’t seem fair, though I see where it went.”

Next day the Big Bad Taxman knocked on the door of the second house.

“Little landlord, little landlord, let me in!”
(He was counting his rent receipts money within.)

Cash and checks piled up on the table
The Taxman would have seen 80K if he were able.

“How much is your income?” asked Taxman at first;
“That’s none of your business,” was Landlord’s outburst,

“I’ll file my taxes with the feds when I must,
“And whatever my figures, you’ll just have to trust.”

“With deductions and credits and depreciation,
Six thousand and three’s the net taxable notation.”

“Well, none of that’s wages so no contribution
To Medicare, Social, or redistribution.”

“Now as to your income…”
“My fed AGI
Is practically zero; my accountant is wise:

She makes sure that number is so very small
That to the Feds I pay almost nothing at all.”

“So half of that, Vermont gets three-sixty.
Please pay that in April, and don’t be too tricky.

Now property tax: how much is it worth?
Your house with four apartments, sitting here on the earth?”

“It’s considered as rentals, so its tax assessment
Is based not on its value, but return on investment.

They take the net profit, and multiply by twenty;
On that basis: a hundred thousand is plenty.”

“Okay then, please give me seventeen hundred;
I hope that’s not too much, that you don’t feel plundered.”

“Now finally your sales tax: two thousand will do;
Your total: four thousand, and three sixty-two.”

“Goodbye, Mr Taxman, I’m pleased to oblige
With a small contribution to keep government alive.”

Over to the third house, the retired investor. The Big Bad Tax Man knocks at the door.

“Little investor, little investor, let me in!”
(Checking his stocks, his bonds, on his screen.)

(Year-to-date growth shows positive gains,
Equal to forty thousand and change.)

“Let’s see what you’ve got there, these tidy investments;
How much are they worth? What’s the assessment?”

“That’s none of your business, you lowly civilian;
Suffice it to say, it’s more than a million.”

“I can’t tax you on that, it’s fully exempted;
Nor state nor federal, though we be tempted

To ask to you pay a fair share of that money.
(With all that you have it does seem kind of funny.)

How about your income? Let’s see your ten-forty.”
“Not much to report there, nothing too sporty:

Our social security’s taxed but in half;
Subtract from that deductions on my behalf,

And you’ll see that my taxable income is slight:
For Feds and the State my tax burden is light.”

“None of it’s wages, so there’s no benefaction
To Social Security, not any subtraction.”

“For income you owe me five thousand and three;
Let’s talk now of tax on your nice property.

It’s valued at 300K like your neighbor’s
So I’ll need five thousand, that’s this year’s flavor.”

“From that five thousand, to be fair to me,
A homestead break of two thousand and three.

I’m old, and my income is under the limit;
I owe you three thousand, and that’s what I’m giving.”

“Now sales tax is easy, same as your neighbors:
About two thousand, and I’m doing you a favor.

Your net contribution to the commonweal
Adds up to ten thousand: how does that feel?”

At the end of the day, the Big Bad Tax man carries $38,281 in his sack:

• $22,700 from the teacher;

• $  5,081 from the landlord; and

• $10,500 from the investor.

• Does this seem fair to you?

Analysis

Let’s see how the taxman’s takings fit with the balance sheet of property and income of our three.

	Teacher	Landlord	Investor	Total
Property Value
Property, house	$300,000	$300,000	$300,000	$900,000
Property, other	$0	$0	$1,000,000	$1,000,000
Property total	$300,000	$300,000	$1,300,000	$1,900,000
Income
Income, wages	$60,000			$60,000
Income, capital growth			$40,000	$40,000
Income, rents		$60,000		$60,000
Income, Social Security			$60,000	$60,000
Income total	$60,000	$60,000	$100,000	$220,000
1040 AGI income	$60,000	$6,003	$30,000	$96,003
Taxes
Vermont Property tax	$5,100	$2,000	$5,100	$12,200	1.7% of value
Rebate	$0	$0	$2,000	$2,000
Net property tax	$5,100	$2,000	$3,100	$10,200
Federal income tax	$7,200	$720	$3,600	$11,520	12% of AGI
Social Security tax	$4,800	$0	$0	$4,800	8% of wages
Total  Federal tax	$12,000	$720	$3,600	$16,320
Vermont income tax	$3,600	$360	$1,800	$5,760	50% of Federal
Vermont sales tax	$2,000	$2,000	$2,000	$6,000	$2000 per family
Total Vermont tax	$10,700	$4,360	$6,900	$21,960
Total Taxes	$22,700	$5,081	$10,500	$38,281

From our Three little Vermonters, the State and Federal governments collect about $38,000 per year, most of it from the teacher. (A similar burden would apply to an office worker, a small business owner, a firefighter, a carpenter, a technician, a cook, anyone who earns their income in wages.) That’s a heavy tax burden, heavier even than in the progressive countries of northern Europe. 

It’s no wonder these middle-class families — the kind we need to strengthen Vermont’s economy and society — find our state unaffordable and its tax burden inequitable. And it’s no wonder that we see a growing influx well-to-do retired folks and real estate speculators moving into our Green Mountain State: they enjoy significant tax advantages. 

Between them the three own $1.9 million of property, and receive an income of $200,000. Yet Vermont collects only $10,000 from that property each year (most of it from the teacher), an overall rate of one-half of one percent. And from their income it collects $5760 (again, most of it from the teacher), an overall rate of about 3%. The effective Vermont tax rates for our three are:

	Property tax rate	Income tax rate
Teacher	1.7%	6.0%
Landlord	0.6%	0.6%
Investor	0.2%	0.2%

Perhaps Vermont is overtaxing some of its citizens, and undertaxing others. 

We need a simpler and fairer way to collect the funds that Vermont needs to operate its schools and highways and other necessary functions of government. A proposal that would reduce the tax burden for most Vermonters.