By Guy Page
Just one week before Town Meeting on March 4, the Scott administration has introduced a draft of its long-awaited bill proposing a sweeping transformation of Vermont’s education system, addressing governance, quality, and finance.
The proposed draft of the bill was submitted by AOE lawyer Emily Simmons, reviewed by House Education Tuesday afternoon, and then updated by Rep. Casey Toof (R-St. Albans Town), a member of House Education, the Future caucus of young legislators of all parties, and a GOP assistant minority leader.
House Education will work (extensively) on the now 176-page bill, and then will decide whether to introduce it as a ‘committee bill’ to the full House. Meanwhile, the Senate also is working on an education reform plan.
The plan, offered as a solution to skyrocketed property taxes and declining student performance, makes these key proposals:
Consolidation of School Districts – The bill aims to replace the existing structure with five unified school districts governing the entire state. Each district would be managed by a school board and a central office. This consolidation is slated to take effect on July 1, 2027, dissolving existing school districts and supervisory unions.
New Education Funding Formula – The proposal seeks to establish a foundation formula for education financing, setting a base amount of $13,200 per student in fiscal year 2025.
Additional funding would be allocated based on student needs, school size, and district sparsity, utilizing an evidence-based model adapted to Vermont’s specific context.
School Advisory Committees – Each school district will establish a local school advisory committee for each school. These committees will include parents, community members and students to represent the diversity of the school community and will serve in an advisory role to the school administration.
The proposal also establishes independent schools as ‘school choice’ schools eligible to receive tuition.
How to reach your legislators
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
Senate Education
Seth Bongartz, Manchester, Chair, sbongartz@leg.state.vt.us
David Weeks, Proctor, Vice Chair, dweeks@leg.state.vt.us
Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Montpelier, kraminsdale@leg.state.vt.us
Nader Hashim, Windham, nhashim@leg.state.vt.us
Terry Williams, Rutland, Clerk, tkwilliams@leg.state.vt.us
Steven Heffernan, Addison, sheffernan@leg.state.vt.us
All committee transcripts are available at www.goldendomevt.com. The committee meeting video is available on the committee’s YouTube channel. The committee meets in the morning in Room 8.