Vermont Public is independent, community-supported media, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information. We share stories that bring people together, from every corner of our region. New to Vermont Public? Start here.

© 2024 Vermont Public | 365 Troy Ave. Colchester, VT 05446

Public Files:
WVTI · WOXM · WVBA · WVNK · WVTQ · WVTX
WVPR · WRVT · WOXR · WNCH · WVPA
WVPS · WVXR · WETK · WVTB · WVER
WVER-FM · WVLR-FM · WBTN-FM

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact hello@vermontpublic.org or call 802-655-9451.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Vermont Legislature
Follow VPR's statehouse coverage, featuring Pete Hirschfeld and Bob Kinzel in our Statehouse Bureau in Montpelier.

House Gives Preliminary Approval To Education Bill

The House has given its preliminary approval to legislation that's designed to restrain education spending throughout the state.

Backers of the bill say it will also expand educational opportunities for students in smaller districts. The legislation was approved by a vote of 88 to 55.

Education committee chairman Dave Sharpe says the bill is a response to concerns voiced by many voters last fall about the rising burden of property taxes.

The legislation calls for the creation of larger school districts throughout the state.  Each district would need to have at least 1,100 students. This could have a major impact in some parts of the state because right now 80 percent of Vermont's school districts have fewer than 500 students and 30 percent have fewer than 100 students.

"The voluntary [consolidation] process might work in 100 years, but frankly we don't have a 100 years. The crisis is now." - Rep. David Sharpe, House Education committee chairman

Sharpe says the bill will be good for students and for taxpayers.

"That will provide for valuable improvements to education for our state's students, and do it within a cost structure affordable to our Vermont residents,” Sharpe says.  

If school districts do not voluntarily merge with other districts by 2018, there's a process to mandate consolidation of smaller districts.

Arlington Rep. Cynthia Browning objected to this provision.

"We should not be mandating that all school districts in the state perform some sort of reorganization in order to address particular problems,” Browning says.

But Sharpe said the mandate is needed to ensure that larger districts are created in a timely way.

"We've had a voluntary process in place for a number of years. It's resulted in one expanded school district,” Sharpe says. “So the voluntary process might work in 100 years, but frankly we don't have a 100 years. The crisis is now."

"We should not be mandating that all school districts in the state perform some sort of reorganization in order to address particular problems." - Arlington Rep. Cynthia Browning

The original bill included a cap on local budgets for the next three years, but many school boards and education groups objected to the cap.

A compromise plan was put into the bill that calls for a cap in 2018 and 2019 if overall statewide spending on education increases by more than 3 percent in 2017.

The legislation will come up for final approval in the House on Thursday.

Bob Kinzel has been covering the Vermont Statehouse since 1981 — longer than any continuously serving member of the Legislature. With his wealth of institutional knowledge, he answers your questions on our series, "Ask Bob."
Latest Stories