Expanding school choice and cutting universal meals appear ‘off the table’

By Austin Davis, Lake Champlain Chamber

The Legislature adjourned last Friday for a week-long Town Meeting Day recess, with many legislators going home frustrated and feeling empty-handed. 

Heard around the building frequently has been, “at Town Meeting Day, constituents will ask…” or “what will we tell constituents at Town Meeting Day…”

As lawmakers head into the town meeting week recess, they’ve finally received the Governor’s 176-page education transformation proposal. However, major gaps remain—particularly in Career Technical Education and pre-K.

Team Effort: The debate spans multiple committees and touches on major structural changes, including property tax adjustments, tax base definitions, property appraisals, and a shift toward a foundation formula for school funding. 

A common theme is regionalization and consolidation, affecting not just schools and districts but also grand list management and property assessments.

Breathing Easier—For Now: With property tax rates held steady this year, legislators feel they have bought time to pursue broader reforms. There’s growing agreement that, given time constraints, education reform will unfold over multiple years rather than in a single legislative session.

Expanding school choice, cutting universal school meals ‘off the table’  – While the Governor’s team proposed expanding school choice, strong Democratic opposition and committee dynamics make this a non-starter. Despite concerns over the lack of a dedicated funding source, broad legislative support ensures the program remains intact.

Immediate Legislative Priorities include: 

The Yield Bill -This annual bill, which sets property tax rates, will take shape after Town Meeting Day votes. Budgets are coming in just under 6%, aligning with December forecasts as many districts work to control costs.

Short-Term Reforms – The Legislature is prioritizing statewide graduation requirements, a unified school data management system, a standardized school calendar, and potential statewide teacher contracts

Long-term reforms on the horizon:

These are items that any legislation passed this year will set up for future legislatures to review and revise. 

School funding – The Legislature appears committed to transitioning school funding to a foundation formula, which sets a per-student base grant, adjusted for student needs.

• The Governor’s proposal suggests a base grant of $13,200 per student, with adjustments based on weighted factors.
• While there is broad support for moving in this direction, many details remain unresolved, and implementation is unlikely before 2028.

District reorganization –There is consensus that Vermont should have fewer school districts, but how many?

• The Governor’s five-district plan is seen as too extreme.
• Legislators seem to favor more districts; somewhere between 12 and 20 districts.
• Some proposals use the 12 organizational districts modeled by school business officials.
• Senate Education Chair Sen. Bongartz has floated a nine-region model with six supervisory districts, three supervisory unions, and two existing interstate districts.

Consolidating districts is complex, but lawmakers agree it must happen. The debate now is about how to draw the lines and what to consider when drawing them.

Property Tax Reform: Who Pays and How?

The state’s property tax system, particularly income sensitivity, is widely seen as problematic—but there’s little agreement on the fix.

• The Governor’s proposal would introduce tiered income-based tax rates while exempting a portion of a taxpayer’s home value.
• Some advocates have pushed for a fully income-based system, which isn’t advancing.
• The Ways and Means Committee is reviewing ways to minimize the number of “losers” in any reform.

Reappraisal & Grand List Reform

The House Ways and Means Committee is advancing a bill to shift grand list management from local control to regional assessment districts overseen by the State Tax Department.

• These districts would handle both education and municipal grand lists.
• Property value appeals would move from local boards to county-level assessors.

Why It Matters: Vermont’s school funding system relies on a statewide grand list, but disparities in property appraisals complicate tax equity. Standardizing assessments could help.

School Construction & Deferred Maintenance

Vermont faces a major backlog of school facility needs, but large-scale school construction reform is unlikely until district consolidation is settled.

• Lawmakers generally agree on a “newer and fewer” approach, but it’s difficult to plan without knowing the final number of districts and students.
• Expect school construction reform to be tied to broader education restructuring.

Bottom line – Education reform is shaping up to be a multi-year effort, with foundational decisions happening now but major changes unfolding over time. Expect ongoing debates over district consolidation, funding formulas, and tax structure well into 2026 and beyond.

The author is the Government Affairs Manager for the Lake Champlain Chamber.