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by Don Keelan
It must have been a shock to rural Vermonters when they heard on January 22, 2025, Governor Phil Scott’s proposal to deal with the education funding crises. The details were contained in a 50-page report published in VTDigger, from the Secretary of Education, Zoie Saunders. The substance was the collapsing of 119 current school districts to five regional districts. Supervisory Unions would be dismantled. More on the details later.
The rural character of many of Vermont’s 251 towns and villages has been the signature of Vermont for the better part of two centuries. However, during the last forty years, events were taking place that would forever change that rural character.
Long before the announcement of the proposal to close school districts, there was the outmigration from the State of young people, ranging in ages from 18 to 45.
And then there were other events that were discussed when they occurred but quickly forgotten—all, one way or other, precursors to where we are today—a rural state that is no longer financially sustainable.
A few examples —- the loss of the local pharmacy, a branch bank and within the past 20 years, the local independent medical doctor’s office. The closing of local houses of worship impacted many towns. The announcement last summer by the Green Mountain Care Board consultant’s report that four of the State’s 14 non-profit hospitals need to close or revamp their services. All of this was not meaningful in the congested areas of Chittenden County—but it was impactful in the rural areas.
Paralleling the closing of many local institutions was the loss of volunteers at fire houses, rescue squads and fraternal organizations. Critical services that for many years were donated. Presently, in many towns this is no longer the case—they were replaced with paid positions.
It will only be a matter of time, that nonprofit organizations, local volunteer fire departments and rescue squads will also have to deal with consolidation. It has been years in the making, with cost continuing to increase. Conspicuously absent, a willingness to address financial sustainability.
As with many other critical Vermont issues—mental health, homelessness, housing, flood resistance, the justice system and its cousin, incarceration—it all comes down to money and the lack there-of.
The funding of school education in Vermont was not unlike a volcano—we are aware that in just a matter of time there would be an eruption. The eruption in funding for schools occurred two years ago with double-digit percent school tax increases, a third of school budgets defeated by voters and a paralysis in acting by past administrations and legislatures.
What was desperately required but strictly absent—the courage to deal with the pending crisis. What elected official would propose the closing of schools and consolidation of school districts? It would always come down to the fact that we are a rural state and each town and village must have their own school. And then reality caught up. We just do not have the funds anymore to continue to do things the way we once did.
Nevertheless, the facts were clear—Vermont school population decreased by over 30,000 students in the past 30 years. The cost of educating the new school population base doubled and there continued to be a consistent diminution in the quality of results—all detailed in the education agency’s report noted above.
To be added to the above and frequently not discussed is what our schools have had to contend with since the Covid shutdown, behavior and social issues, the cost of which can equate to 20% of a district’s budget.
The State can no longer continue to be in denial—that “ship” left the harbor some years ago. With that noted, I have one caveat, are we relying too much on outside consultants “driving the bus,” when it comes to how to restructure our education and health care systems?
How well the Legislature, the Administration and citizens of the impacted school districts deal with the education proposal will be extremely challenging and quite messy. But so will the next crisis that is at our doorstep, especially in the rural areas of Vermont—the dispensing of health care.
It will take an awful lot of courage, creativity, and a willingness to recognize, we are no longer the State we once were—financial sustainability has caught up and appears to have usurped Vermont’s hold on wanting to maintain its rural character.
The author is a U.S. Marine (retired), CPA, and columnist living in Arlington, VT.
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Categories: Commentary, Education
I disagree. I think the issue is more that the definition of what it means to be rural has changed. The fact that we are reading and writing things on this platform, have reliable power, ease of movement, and many more things were viewed with trepidation when they were new.
Vermont has always been a different kind of rural anyway: you are never far from civilization, albeit a spread-out corner of it. There are no huge tracts where the presence of Man is absent. Compare this to out West, or even most of Maine, where you can go days through the wilderness without seeing a soul.
In my opinion Act 60 known as “The Equal Educational Opportunity Act”, a Vermont law enacted in June of 1997 by the Vermont Legislature and signed by then Vermont Governor, Howard Dean, was the most significant NAIL IN THE COFFIN of Vermont Education.
The State, in an overt act of “Social Engineering and Equity” took away the local control of education from the Vermont Taxpayers, Families and Parents in individual Vermont Towns.
Look how far we have fallen since then! More and more and more monies demanded, spent and paid by Taxpayers with NO POSITIVE RESULTS to show!
What is it about that this writer who refuses to understand that these “VT” issues are being cited in VIRTUALLY. EVERY. SINGLE. STATE.?????
1.) Local pharmacies have closed because BIG BOX pharmacies BOUGHT THEM OUT – meanwhile, there are two remaining successful, private pharmacies (amongst others in the state) right in this writer’s own backyard located in: BENNINGTON and in MANCHESTER.
2.) The claim the youth are “leaving”. SAME claim as being bantered about constantly in NYS, on L.I., in CT, etc. etc. and has been for DECADES. Americans are NOT having CHILDREN anymore. Birth rates are the LOWEST in history. Have some kids. And btw, it’s only natural for young people to EXPLORE the 50 states. Let them be. The grass always looks greener.
3.) It was none other than Obama’s wonderous changes to Medicare in an effort to support Medicare for ALL including illegal aliens — that has caused MASSIVE changes for doctors and for hospitals & how they are paid/funded & even for seniors & disabled who deserve Medicare — and it has caused M.D.’s to leave the profession entirely & leave local hospitals particularly. They did NOT leave because they “hated” VT.
The closing of churches is because attendance is DOWN and it is down across the nation as well. NOTHING peculiar to VT. Solution? Keep the Sabbath holy & return to church.
The list goes on & on – but VT’s “quest” to “invigorate” the state by continually adding illegals, migrants, homeless people & druggies & yet MORE socialized medicine practices is merely exacerbating the OVERALL POPULATION & CORPORATE trends that all states are experiencing.
Stop buying this repeated b.s. from Montpelier & leave VT ALONE. It will survive just as MA survives. Just as NY survives.
FOLLOW the Constitution.
OBEY the Rule of Law.
STOP socialism & Communism at all costs.
Let VT be VT.
it’s been 36 years since Frank Bryan and I published The Vermont Papers, dealing with exactly this problem and proposing the solution. Too bad no one but the 2 of us raised the flag.
Please post your work again. Some of us agreed with you then and still do.
Big city solutions, big consolidation of power and money, these are the problems.
It’s all about power and money.
The blame falls entirely on the Left. Entirely. Back when the state was known for its conservative sense and sensibilities, there was also a tacit understanding that citizens were responsible for citizen things. People were willing to help shoulder the load.
Then the Left began to decree that everything was a “basic human right”. And over time, many people began to work less and expect more. In other words, why work for improvement when you can just demand it? Why work to purchase something, when you can just demand that everyone else pay for it? The effect of these demands was the simultaneous collapse of the volunteer spirit. Now, that effort must be paid for.
This is the insidiousness of the Left; the seeds of communism, which promises equal riches, but only delivers equal misery.
To the critics that state that living in the past doesn’t work anymore (ignoring its success), I submit that their model of the future is a proven total failure.
But maybe we have crossed the Rubicon. Too many takers, and too few makers anymore. And the takers sure aren’t going to admit they are in the wrong…
I would like to clarify that the Left is now the far Left that has invaded our once conservative state. Start with Bernie and his followers.