by Rebecca Holcombe According to VTDigger, “The former education secretary relies on a memo and State Board Meeting in which Scott’s education secretary describes his vision for a statewide voucher program — in both cases with a clearly stated caveat that his proposal is meant to provoke further conversation.” I will accept the governor’s characterization, but will continue to sharply criticize this “vision” for education, which the governor and his team have advocated for years now.
If Governor Scott’s team wants to say that a statewide voucher program was their ‘vision’ and not their policy, I will take them at their word and amend my critique. His ceaseless attacks on community public schools, while protecting sending public dollars to private schools that will not accept nor serve all Vermont children, should be seen in the context of that ‘vision.’ The governor's ‘vision’ for a statewide voucher program would pull millions from our community public schools, which sit at the heart of our communities and serve families that depend on them, to funnel money to private schools, including those that don’t and won’t serve our most disadvantaged students. I strongly disagree with that 'vision,' and I'll continue to say so, loudly and unapologetically. When it comes to education and creating equal opportunity, my vision for the state is much different than the governor’s.
Background
In March 2019, the Scott administration presented a memo to the State Board of Education that detailed a vision to create “a single statewide school district” to provide “statewide school choice among all the public schools, technical centers, and non-sectarian independent schools.” According to the document, it “represents the work of a visioning exercise conducted within the Vermont Agency of Education to begin to imagine the design of a modern education system.” [Designing our Future: A Blueprint for Transforming Vermont’s Education System, v. 2.0, Page 9, State Board of Education Meeting, 3.20.19]
In 2016, Gov. Scott said “School choice should be afforded to every parent and student in every school in every corner of Vermont. I will vigorously support legislation that would clarify Act 46 and, further, make school choice an option for all Vermont families." [Vermont Business Magazine, 7/20/16]
Rebecca Holcombe is a Democratic candidate for governor and a former Education Sectretary in the Shumlin and Scott Administrations.