MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – After three months of work, the Vermont School Redistricting Task Force this week delivered a draft plan recommending voluntary school district mergers. It’s a plan with no definitive maps that critics, including the governor, say has failed to address the state’s education crisis.
In its final 168-page draft report, a majority of the task force concluded they didn’t have enough time to redraw school district maps, the process was rushed, and the underlying education reform law that created the group was flawed.
Task force members said thousands of Vermonters pushed back on earlier drafts of map options and stressed there is no evidence that school consolidation saves money.
“It would have been irresponsible. We want to hand a report to the Legislature that is accurate, based in data, research, and that can support the state of Vermont,” said Sen. Martine LaRoque Gulick, D-Chittenden County.
The panel’s rejection of the Legislative mandate to create three school district maps highlights the complex and politically charged task of education reform.
Republican Governor Phil Scott on Thursday said the Legislature will have to act where the task force did not. “We need to do something. So they’re going to need to act as soon as they get back in,” he said.
One goal of consolidation is to ensure districts have the resources to hire the best teachers and provide more educational opportunities, which Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders says will help with education outcomes. Recent test data show Vermont 4th graders are now being outperformed in reading and math by their peers in Mississippi, a historically low-performing state.
“We need to make sure the dollars we have are resourcing a system that will support our teachers and give our students unparalleled opportunities,” Saunders said.
Some, including the statewide teachers union, continue to call for a course correction, scrapping the current reform plans and instead focusing on finding new revenue sources to support the current model.
It’s unclear what direction lawmakers will go when they return to Montpelier in January. In a statement, House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said her chamber remains focused on making education more affordable. “We’ll continue to work with the education community, the Scott administration, and all Vermonters to consider the options before us and next steps to meet our education transformation goals,” Krowinski said.
In just about two weeks, the state will release a report projecting how much property taxes will rise next year. State legislators used surplus funds to buy down school taxes the last two years, but it remains to be seen what the budget picture will look like in January.
