Vermont lawmakers adopted landmark education transformation legislation late Monday evening, following two consecutive years of intensive deliberations and debate.
H.454, a final version of the education reform act that emerged from compromise negotiations between Gov. Phil Scott and conference committees of the Vermont Senate and House, has officials and educators statewide — especially those in rural areas such as the seven local towns of the Mountain Views Supervisory Union (MVSU) school district — deeply concerned about what the future holds. The 155-page measure that was passed on Monday drew strong opposition from MVSU officials and statewide school boards, superintendents and principals organizations, many legislators, and other educational and community leaders between when the compromise was crafted late last Friday evening and its eventual passage on Monday afternoon, after which the Vermont legislature adjourned until it reconvenes next January.
Exhaustive in its breadth and replete with arcane minutiae, H.454 essentially has two critical objectives: one, making public education more affordable for taxpayers by transitioning to a “foundation formula” for funding, whereby the state takes on oversight of per-pupil spending via a grant process and two, charting a path toward school consolidation that could result in narrowing the current 288 public schools in 119 districts and 42 supervisory unions or districts down to 10-20 overall school districts.
Critics of H.454 among Vermont House and Senate members and education advocates statewide are flummoxed and awash in uncertainties about the future of Vermont schools. This includes members of the MVSU Board of Directors, who spoke out forcefully in the immediate wake of the compromise legislation on education transformation that was hammered out late last Friday evening. The MVSU board convened an emergency board meeting on Sunday night to call on local legislators to oppose the education bill. In an email and listserv missive to area communities late Sunday night, the chair of the MVSU School Board, Keri Bristow of Woodstock, wrote, “This Sunday evening, the MVSU Board met in an emergency meeting to discuss the implications of H.454 on our school district and the educating of students in Vermont. The board and participating community members voiced strong opposition to the current version of H.454.”
After some discussion, the MVSU board unanimously approved a draft email that they asked concerned community members to send to legislators that read, “Tonight the MVSU Board and community spoke out against H.454 and its dismantling of public education. We urgently ask that you vote NO to H.454 and take the time necessary to construct visionary and responsive legislation to move education forward in Vermont. Our youth and our schools are the future and foundation of our communities and should not be discarded with so little thought.” The sentiments in the email, which echoed many speeches by House and Senate members on the State House floor on Monday, were conveyed by local education advocates to Windsor State Sens. Alison Clarkson, Joe Major, and Becca White; Rutland State Sens. David Weeks and Terry Williams; and State Reps. Charlie Kimbell (representing Woodstock, Plymouth, and Reading); Heather Surprenant (Pomfret, Barnard, Bridgewater); and Jim Harrison (Killington, Pittsfield), who all represent MVSU communities.
Coincident with the MVSU board’s email campaign, the unified school district’s superintendent, Sherry Sousa, sent an open letter to community members over the weekend that was also delivered via email and local listservs. While Sousa did not call outright for the defeat of H.454 at the State House on Monday, she did catalog a wealth of concerns about the legislation. Sousa also called on lawmakers to take even more time than the two legislative terms they have already devoted to considering comprehensive education reform, encouraging them to improve and build upon the legislation subsequently passed on Monday.
For a full video interview with State Rep. Charlie Kimbell, please click here.
For more on this, please see our June 19 edition of the Vermont Standard.
