What are the immediate impacts?

Fewer options -  Starting this school year, families in districts with school choice will have significantly fewer options to choose from:

• More than half of Vermont’s independent schools are no longer eligible options, including Vermont Academy, the Grammar School, Red Fox School, and the Putney School.

• All out of state independent schools have been made ineligible for public tuition.

Imposition of state controls - the new law will require independent schools that accept publicly funded students to comply with new “one size fits all” minimum class size requirements in a few years.  If fully implemented, these new requirements will significantly alter the unique environments and programs offered by independent schools - negatively impacting the student experience.

What happens next?

School district consolidation task force begins work - an 11 person task force, which includes some of Vermont’s most fervent opponents of school choice, will begin work in August to develop proposals to drastically consolidate Vermont’s 119 school districts into much larger entities - likely between 20 and 25 regional school districts.  The task force will hold a series of public hearings across the state to gather input, and  will present their final recommendations to the Legislature for consideration in January.

Why should we be concerned about school district consolidation?

School district configuration determines whether school choice is available - real school choice (i.e. where families can choose from both public and independent school options) is only available in school districts that do not operate their own public schools for the applicable grade levels.  For example, in the Northshire region, the following school districts have different school choice options:

• Taconic & Green (Danby, Dorset, Landgrove, Londonderry, Manchester, Mt. Tabor, Peru, Sunderland, Weston) - operates public schools for grades K-8, offers choice for grades 9-12

• Mettawee (Pawlet & Rupert) - operates public schools for grades K-6, offers choice for grades 7-12

• Winhall - does not operate a public school, offers choice for all grades

Opponents of school choice and access to independent schools will try to use consolidation as a tool to further erode or eliminate school choice - by merging districts that currently have school choice into larger districts that have public school options, school choice can be eliminated.  Using the examples above, the Taconic & Green, Mettawee, and Winhall school districts could be consolidated into a single district, resulting in the loss of school choice for grades 7 and 8 in Pawlet and Rupert and the loss of school choice for grades K-8 in Winhall.  Other examples could include moving Danby and Mt. Tabor into a larger regional school district in Rutland that has no school choice, moving Weston and Londonderry into a regional school school district to the east with no school choice, and Manchester and Sunderland to a larger district to the south with no school choice.

Who is behind efforts to reduce or eliminate school choice and access to independent schools?

Taxpayer funded public education associations - the Vermont School Boards Association (VSBA), the Vermont Superintendents Association (VSA), and the Vermont Principals Association (VPA) have all been actively pushing for changes that would reduce or eliminate school choice options.

Vermont NEA (teachers union) - the NEA has imported a national context into Vermont, stoking irrational fears of “privatization” of Vermont’s public school system, and using that tot advocate against existing school choice options and independent school access.

Friends of Vermont Public Education - a new political advocacy group, largely composed of current and former VSBA Board members, has been aggressively lobbying to limit school choice options.

What can we do to help preserve school choice in our community?

Talk to local school boards - our local school boards need to know how much our community values school choice and robust access to both public and independent school choice options.  School board members regularly receive communications and messages from the VSBA that are highly critical of school choice and independent schools.  

Talk to local legislators - local legislators need to know how much their constituents value school choice and access to both public and independent schools. Every email and phone call has an impact - personalized, individual contact from constituents is critical.

Ask school boards to stop funding associations that are working against the interests of our students - We all pay for dues that fund the VSBA, VSA, and VPA advocacy and lobbying that seeks to eliminate school choice options.  Our local school boards should stop funding these organizations if they are going to be working against the interests of students in our communities - some school districts have already taken this step.

Ask school boards to take formal positions to oppose any redistricting options that eliminate existing school choice options - school boards will be an important voice in the upcoming restricting effort - we need them to speak up for what our community wants - to maintain existing school choice options.

Participate in upcoming public hearings of the School District Consolidation Task Force - this will be a public process; our communities will need to speak in larger numbers and demand that any consolidation maintains existing school choice options.