By Michael Bielawski
Last Thursday, an organization largely led by Northeast Kingdom principals, superintendents, and others in education responded to the governor’s ambitious education governance overhaul, including his five-district statewide model and block grant funding.
“Like so many Vermonters, education professionals, and organizations have had to do when engaging in the democratic act of disagreement, we state unequivocally that despite the Administration’s tendency toward finger-wagging, leveraging a critique of the Governor’s plan is not a defense of the status quo,” was the response from the Vermont Rural Education Collaborative (VREC) to the governor’s plan.
The response by Executive Director John Castle alleges that the administration is putting politics over students.
Castle writes, “The fact that the Administration and Secretary have largely marshaled the expertise of classified staff at the AOE to support their political agenda – at the expense of performing their core duties to the field – not only calls into question their motives but whether they have engaged in significant waste at the taxpayer’s expense.”
The governor’s plan would do away with the traditional Supervisory Unions altogether. About half of VREC’s board of directors are superintendents, meaning their jobs could be at stake were the governor’s plan to advance.
VREC says the governor’s plan is unrealistic.
“The Administration’s plan is built on a subsidence [a groundless foundation]; it is so far-reaching, so unfinished, and so imperfectly informed that it poses to exacerbate an ever-growing reality in Vermont,” they wrote.
According to his bio on the VREC website, Castle moved with his family from Jersey City, New Jersey to an old farmhouse on 80 acres of land in Holland, Vermont in the summer of 1972. He started second grade at Holland School in Marion’s Petell’s 1-2 classroom and graduated from North Country Union High School. John has worked as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and school administrator at the college, high school, elementary and supervisory union level in Vermont for almost 30 years.
Solutions?
While the VREV says they do not endorse the status quo, it does not list specific solutions. It encourages more data sharing and being more “drama-free.”
They wrote, “Perhaps the brave if not ‘bold’ action we could take for our public education system and Vermont taxpayers is to be deliberate, data-informed, and drama-free with our constant ‘transformations’ that really are just tired tropes and re-treading of old ideas, policies, and proposals under a different name.”
They suggest that “If the Administration wants education funding to be more transparent and understandable to the taxpayer, perhaps it’s time to revisit the process by which the State pays for things with Education Funds newly disguised as ‘special funds.’”
The administration said…
VREC is responding to statements [and a newly released plan, see VDC today] by the Governor’s office led by Education Secretary Zoie Saunders on why education is expensive and underperforming.
Governor Scott’s administration said, “These challenges stem from declining enrollment, persistent achievement gaps, and inefficiencies in resource allocation, all of which are compounded by Vermont’s overly complex organizational governance structure and confusing education funding system.”
In response, VREC argues the governor’s initiatives such as universal pre-k as well as the ending of federal COVID-era funding contributed to high costs. They also noted a 16% increase in health insurance costs and they estimate a 6% rise in inflation.
“One can’t help wondering if they are blaming public school districts for responding to a global pandemic or successfully implementing a Universal Pre-K program they have promoted?” they wrote.
Too complex?
On the notion that Vermont’s education system is over-complex, VREC agrees.
“In a national context, Vermont’s funding system is unusual in that local districts determine how much they wish to spend, and this spending collectively drives the total amount the state must raise through taxes,” they wrote.
“This bottom-up approach, where districts effectively set statewide spending levels, complicates efforts to align resources with priorities and manage costs sustainably. It also creates additional layers of complexity for taxpayers trying to understand how their local budget decisions impact broader state finances.”
The result is ultimately “inequitable funding between communities” and “challenges in managing declining enrollment.”
Contact your legislators
See all bills assigned to this committee here. Constituents may contact committee members (click link on name for bio, party affiliation, etc.) with comments, questions and information at the following email addresses:
House Education
Peter Conlon, Cornwall, Chair, pconlon@leg.state.vt.us
Chris Taylor, Madison, Vice Chair, cataylor@leg.state.vt.us
Erin Brady, Chittenden District 2, Ranking Member, ebrady@leg.state.vt.us
Jana Brown, Richmond, Clerk, jbrown@leg.state.vt.us
Joshua Dobrovich, Orange-3, jdobrovich@leg.state.vt.us
Leanne Harple, Orleans 4, lharple@leg.state.vt.us
Robert Hunter, Bennington-4, rhunter@leg.state.vt.us
Emily Long, Burlington, elong@leg.state.vt.us
Kate McCann, Washington-4, kmccann@leg.state.vt.us
Beth Quimby, Caledonia-3, bquimby@leg.state.vt.us
Casey Toof, St. Albans City, ctoof@leg.state.vt.us
All committee transcripts are available at SmartTranscripts of Meetings Under The Vermont Golden Dome. The Committee meeting video is available at the committee’s YouTube channel. The committee meets in the morning in Room 8.