Legislative Wrap-up: Agency fees
The legislation, S.14, requires an estimated 2,600 education, state and municipal employees who aren’t union members to pay fees of up to 85 percent of yearly union dues.
Legislative Wrap-up: School lunch
Lawmakers make school lunch program free for all eligible students.
Legislative Wrap-up: Education funding
The only provision in H.538 that is expected to have a concrete impact on school spending is a change to the excess spending threshold.
Stripped-down school funding bill passes; pre-K bill held for next session
Senate President Pro-Tem John Campbell, D-Windsor, said he prioritized H.538 because property tax payers “need relief.”
Publicly funded pre-K bill passes in House after heated debate
H.270 requires school districts to pay for at least 10 hours per week of pre-Kindergarten education for 35 weeks a year. About 40 towns do not offer publicly funded pre-K.
Childcare union activists try one more time
A proposal that would give providers the right to unionize was voted out of Senate Education on Friday.
Shumlin touts education agenda successes, acknowledges legislative resistance to EITC proposal
Shumlin: “I think we’re on the right track. If it takes us a year or two to settle every part of it, you know, I’m hoping that Vermonters aren’t going to fire me this week.”
House approves bill to curb school spending; final vote expected Thursday
After the Ways and Means Committee approved two amendments, Chair Janet Ancel, D-Calais, concluded, “I feel like we’ve gotten to a reasonable meeting point, so that nobody loves it.”
Margolis: The circle game of school spending
As Republicans are beholden to the wishes of small town educators and taxpayers, Democrats can not ignore the interests of the education establishment, including Vermont’s chapter of the National Education Association.
House Ways and Means passes bill to curb school spending
H.538 puts stricter penalties in place for excess spending and whittles away at a number of quirks in the education finance system, which traditionally have softened the impact of spending on tax rates for some districts.
