By Guy Page
A national public-interest law firm has filed a lawsuit challenging a new Vermont law that restricts which independent schools families can choose under the state’s longstanding town tuitioning system.
The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) announced March 2 that it has sued the State of Vermont over Act 73, a law passed in 2025 that changes eligibility rules for the state’s historic tuitioning program.
The suit, Caspers Vs. State of Vermont, was brought by parents Kollene Caspers and Michelle Oroscz. They are represented by St. Johnsbury attorney Deb Bucknam, working with LJC.
For more than 200 years, Vermont’s town tuitioning system has allowed students in towns that do not operate certain public schools—often rural communities—to attend approved independent schools using publicly funded tuition payments.
The lawsuit, filed in Vermont Superior Court, argues the new law significantly narrows that option and violates the Vermont Constitution by arbitrarily limiting which schools families can choose.
Act 73 amended state law governing tuitioning and added several new restrictions. The law:
- Prohibits tuition vouchers from being used at independent schools created after July 1, 2025.
- Limits eligibility to schools tied to specific supervisory structures based on whether a district operated a public school as of July 1, 2024.
- Requires that at least 25% of a school’s 2023–24 enrollment consist of district-funded tuition students.
- Establishes minimum class-size requirements, with only limited waiver options.
Attorneys for the Liberty Justice Center say the criteria exclude certain independent schools—even those located near public schools that may not be appropriate for a particular student—and schools serving families who do not primarily rely on the tuitioning system.
“Act 73 puts special interests over the interests of children,” said Jeffrey Schwab, the group’s director of litigation. “This law limits the ability of Vermont families to meet their educational need and rescinds a tradition that goes back two centuries.”
Caspers and Orosz say the law removed tuitioning eligibility for some of their children to attend their preferred schools.
Orosz said her younger children were denied the same tuitioning opportunities previously available to an older sibling.
“Our city doesn’t have a public high school—the state will be paying town tuitioning regardless,” Orosz said in a statement. “There is no reason to block my younger kids from getting the same opportunity as my eldest.”
The case, titled Caspers v. State of Vermont, was filed in the Civil Division of Vermont Superior Court. The plaintiffs are asking the court to strike down the restrictions in Act 73.
State officials had not immediately issued a response to the lawsuit as of the announcement. The Vermont Legislature is currently working on a bill to implement the goals of Act 73.