Editor’s note: This commentary is by Margaret MacLean, a Peacham resident, a Vermont principal of the year and a former member of the Vermont Board of Education, who is a member of the steering committee for Vermonters for Schools and Communities.
[D]oes a rural child in Vermont have the right to a quality education within their community or within a reasonable travel distance from their community?
What is a reasonable travel distance, particularly for our youngest children?
In the waning days of the Legislature, more than 1,100 Vermonters signed a petition in less than a week to tell legislators: Hold on a minute, this is complex change, take your time, this bill is not what we asked for.
These questions were not asked or answered in Montpelier as our citizen legislators discussed sweeping changes to our school governance system. This is because the bill H.361 now on its way to becoming law is supposedly not about closing schools. Legislators felt the need to say the bill is not about closing schools to everyone they talked to. They even wrote the words in the bill but without accompanying actions to ensure schools will not close. Maybe they were trying to convince themselves because the bill does much to ensure that schools will, in fact, close.
I am not sure when we lost sight of the prize, an excellent equitable education system at a cost that hard-working Vermonters can afford. But somewhere along the way it was decided that to reach that goal we had to sacrifice small community schools. Legislators couldn’t actually say that — Vermonters wouldn’t buy it — but that had to be the outcome.
Follow the actions of the bill, and it is clear that fiscal pressure manufactured in Montpelier and targeted directly at small schools, will result in communities in crisis. Should some communities have discussions about schooling, including possibly closing their schools? Yes, but these are community decisions best made locally. They are difficult enough without additional contrived pressure from Montpelier.
Vermonters are not easily hoodwinked. In 2014 they sent legislators the message to do something to curb rising property taxes, but legislators have crafted a bill that saves little. In the short term it will increase taxes for many towns in order to pay incentives to other districts to consolidate. As the pressures of the bill and incentives play out over the next several years, have no doubt many schools will close. This is what the actions of the bill are designed to accomplish.
It doesn’t matter to those bent on consolidation how good these schools are, or how cost effective, as no quality assurance system is currently in place to give us that information. Nor are resources for a rigorous system included in the bill. Instead these schools have been condemned based on mere anecdotes, alleging their inadequacy. The bill is predicated on the closure of schools based on size not merit.
Last month in Concord, the community made the difficult decision to close its high school. The state could have been helpful with this decision. In the last 10 years Concord School has not had a comprehensive comparative educational or fiscal review. Consequently, when sitting down to discuss this issue townspeople focused on personal beliefs and experiences. How different would it be if the state acted as a partner? If a comprehensive peer review had taken place, comparative data had been provided, and neutral facilitators had been available, clarity and consensus would have come sooner.
The community could have rallied behind its school or decided to close it; data and the best interests of children would have led the way. Sadly, Concord did not get this help, nor is this kind of help supported in H.361. All the bill does is add fiscal and governance pressure. To get fiscal relief you will be urged to take the “preferred” option and give up your local school board, your voice and power in decision-making. This will pit neighbor against neighbor, community against community and incite ill-conceived, painfully divisive battles around the state.
In making this call politicians’ have miscalculated. The Legislature has underestimated the responsibility Vermonters take for education and underestimated how much Vermonters understand, appreciate and value their community schools. They have also underestimated how hard they will fight to keep them.
In the coming months each community-elected school board will be doing its best to understand the ramifications of the legislation. These volunteers will need all our support. They should remember to contact their legislators and tell them:
• This legislation makes the situation on the ground worse, not better.
•“Right-sizing” the system should not be at the expense of those children who live in rural places.
• Legislation that targets small, poor and rural places is not in line with Vermont values. Seventy-three percent of students attending schools that currently receive Small Schools Grants’ attend a school with above statewide average poverty rates.
• Give them concrete examples of how the legislation can be adjusted so it is not needlessly punitive.
• Urge them to look at the bigger picture, the kind of Vermont we hope for, one of flourishing rural communities with excellent community schools.
• Promote partnership not punishment to solve this problem, how to provide an excellent equitable education system at a cost hard-working Vermonters can afford.
And while you are talking to them remember to ask them. “Does a rural child in Vermont have the right to a quality education within their community or within a reasonable travel distance from their community?” “What is a reasonable travel distance, particularly for our youngest children?”
As Vermonters saw momentum building for passage of H.361, they began to be concerned. In the waning days of the Legislature, more than 1,100 Vermonters signed a petition in less than a week to tell legislators: Hold on a minute, this is complex change, take your time, this bill is not what we asked for. This plea fell on deaf ears, but the conversation has just begun. All Vermonters who care about schools and their communities should step up and engage in it.
