by Sue Ceglowski, Executive Director and General Counsel, VSBA
VSBA strongly opposes Governor Scott’s proposal to radically change education governance in Vermont. Rather than “supporting an ecosystem built on strong public schools,” as portrayed by Education Secretary Zoie Saunders, Governor Scott’s education governance proposal is a playbook to expanding school vouchers and defunding our public schools.
The Governor’s plan calls for the State to pay funding directly to private schools for students in grades 9-12 statewide via a lottery. This use of vouchers will allow public funds to be used for private schooling across Vermont. Multiplying the number of students eligible for vouchers will not rein in costs. In other states that have enacted such programs, education costs have skyrocketed, causing budget deficits and cuts to critical state programs like water infrastructure and highway repairs.
Public education is the core of our strong communities and is critically important for a healthy democracy. It is more important than ever to support our public schools by funding them in a sustainable way. This will involve hard choices to achieve efficiency and scale. VSBA is ready to contribute constructively to make those choices in the Vermont context.
Moving from 119 school districts to 5 does not reflect Vermonters’ values. Vermont’s school board members come from all walks of life and have a proud history of non-partisan, volunteer service for their local communities. This change would politicize school boards by reducing the number of board members statewide from 900 to 25, fewer than the total number of senators who serve Vermont.
These highly competitive races will introduce money into public education governance in a manner never before seen in Vermont. On top of that, this change will exclude those who don’t have the ability to survive on a part-time position, making school board service an opportunity reserved for the wealthy or retired.
Vermonters have waited eight years for Governor Scott to provide a vision for a more affordable and effective education system. The proposal unveiled last week does not achieve either goal - rather, it will increase costs and increase inequities. Further, even if the Legislature agreed to the proposal, the Agency of Education’s track record leaves us questioning the Administration’s ability to implement it.
The VSBA looks forward to working with policymakers on real solutions to our challenges that move Vermont’s public education system forward in a manner consistent with our shared values and Constitution.