And dump the VTNEA!

by Rob Roper

In the wake of Act 73/H.955 education “reform” and the emphasis on consolidation there has been considerable worry in rural Vermont about what this means for their small, local schools. For many it will mean closure. A recent op-ed by Nina Antin notes, “When Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, presented H.955 on the Vermont Senate floor, she acknowledged this directly, saying small districts that vote against merging will not be able to survive on the foundation formula.” Unless….

If rural communities want a shot at keeping – and improving — their local school they should look at what North Bennington did in 2013 when the first major discussions of forced district consolidation were taking place (the ones that led to Act 46): they closed their public elementary school to become a “non-operating district,” and seamlessly re-opened it as the now “independent” Village School of North Bennington (VSNB).

Independent schools in Vermont have been surviving and thriving under a foundation formula (a.k.a. tuitioning) for over 150 years. It’s very doable. For example, the tuitioning system provided VSNB a set amount of $21,350 per child for the 2025-26 school year. That’s the budget. Far less than the $30,000-plus per pupil average in the public schools, but they make it work – spectacularly.

The last year VSNB was a public school it had an enrollment of 121 students. Today it has 137 students, an increase of 13 percent despite the fact that Bennington’s overall population has dropped by nearly 3.5 percent over the same fifteen-year period. Academically, the school is significantly outperforming the statewide averages for all tested subjects, 88/56 percent proficient in literacy, 63/47 percent in math, and 63/43 percent in science (2024 results).

The key to their success: ditching the public-school system’s wasteful bureaucracy, politically driven mandates, and, most of all, the VTNEA teachers’ union.

(And before opponents of independent schools start shouting things like “cherry-picking!” and “discrimination!,” VSNB accepts any and every child from its district who wants to come, same as a public school. So, just sit your butt back down and keep your misinformation propaganda to yourself.)

Getting out from under the thumb of the VTNEA (the teachers stayed, they just left the union) allowed VSNB to focus on improving its core academic program while expanding its enrichment opportunities by, to quote their website,

Building on the strengths of our community, the Village School partners with local institutions and organizations that have particular areas of expertise. Thanks to these partnerships, we offer outstanding Encore Programs in Art, Music, Library and Technology, and Physical Education, as well as an array of Enrichment Programs that further inform and round out our students’ education.

These are creative, innovative, cost-effective solutions that benefit students and families and make for a more vibrant successful educational and community experience, but the VTNEA doesn’t allow this sort of thing in the schools it controls (personal conclusion: because it is greedy, lazy and evil).

So, yes, smaller rural schools can thrive under the independent tuitioning “foundation formula” model Vermont has had for over a century and a half, providing broader curriculum opportunities and producing better student outcomes using fewer taxpayer dollars. But for this to happen more broadly to meet today’s challenges a few things need to happen first….

Number one, the legislature needs to repeal its 2023 law placing a moratorium on new applications for independent schools that want to participate in the tuitioning system, which they passed specifically to stop rural communities from doing this or something similar (because the majority is in the pocket of the VTNEA). And for that to happen, this November voters will have to reject every single VT House and Senate candidate endorsed by the VTNEA, which will fight tooth and nail to keep this from happening. (Because, again, personal conclusion: it is greedy, lazy and evil. Click to see who they endorsed in 2024: Senate and House.)

More than just lifting the moratorium, you will need to elect legislators – and a governor – who is willing to not just allow but to facilitate rural public schools’ transition to independent status quickly and seamlessly. Remove all the flaming hoops VSNB had to jump through to make their magnificent, student-centered, cost effective success a reality.

No one can guarantee going independent will work in every case, but the evidence for potential success is there. Both examples in Vermont of public schools doing this, VSNB and the Mountain School at Winhall (K-6) in 1998 have been success stories and have stood the test of time, but it’s a small sample size for sure. There are also a number of highly successful small, rural independent-from-the-start schools to look at for ideas and inspiration, such as Sharon Academy (grades 7-12, 147 students, $24,700 per pupil), Riverside School (pre-k-8, 105 students), and Thaddeus Stevens (K-8, 45 students, $19,120 for K-6 and $20,910 for 7-8).

So don’t let anyone tell you that small, rural schools can’t provide students with dynamic learning opportunities, can’t produce outstanding student outcomes, and can’t operate cost effectively. All of these schools are doing just that – a better job for roughly 1/3 less than their unionized public school counterparts. They just needed to get escape the government-run, public school system and kick the VTNEA out of their classrooms and communities. And that, folks, is the solution to our education crisis in Vermont.