In January, Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s budget address set the tone for the session when he said he would not accept any new taxes or fees. Scott called for a freeze in school district spending and a mandated 80/20 premium split on teachers’ health insurance premiums. At the same time, Scott proposed millions in new spending on higher education and early childhood education. In addition, he wanted to change the date for annual school budget votes from Town Meeting Day in March to a date in May.
Lawmakers refused to change the annual school budget vote date because school boards had already warned budgets.
Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, opposed the governor’s plan more generally because he raided the education fund to pay for more higher and early education spending. The result, Baruth said, would be higher property taxes.
“Every governor knows that in Vermont we budget locally, so his idea that we were going to level fund every budget, especially since they were already written, was never a serious proposal,” Baruth said.
Lawmakers fought over whether to move current teacher retirement costs from the general fund to the education fund and the education property tax bill became a political football, first for a new funding formula to pay for schools introduced by Rep. Scott Beck, R-St. Johnsbury.
Then the property tax bill became the vehicle for what turned out to be the most controversial education-related measure of the legislative session — the governor’s proposal to move teachers’ health care negotiations from the local to the state level.
In the end, lawmakers approved a budget that adds nearly $4 million for the Vermont State Colleges System, which is in financial trouble, increases spending on early education centers and lowers property taxes.
Scott plans to veto the budget bill because he and legislative leaders could not agree on a mandated 80/20 split for teachers’ health insurance. The governor wants a statewide teachers contract for health insurance; House and Senate leaders have balked at what they say is an attack on collective bargaining rights.
Omnibus education bill
When the legislative session opened in January, Baruth’s strategy was to focus on tweaking Act 46, the 2015 school district consolidation law, and revising the 2200 Rule Series, private school approval rules.
On the other side of the building, the chair of the House Education Committee, Rep. David Sharpe, D-Bristol, hoped to create more pathways for students pursuing technical education, and he wanted to iron out problems with the fingerprinting protocol for pre-K employees.
The House and Senate mashed most of their legislation into one omnibus education bill, H.513. The legislation builds more flexibility in school district merger plans. It forms a study committee that will devise a plan for the revision of private school rules. The bill also gives freedom of expression protections for student journalists and their mentors. And it sets up a study for small school grants.
Both chambers agreed on changes to the background check and fingerprinting system for pre-kindergarten staff. Lawmakers have asked for a study to ensure the universal pre-K program is affordable, equally accessible and offers high quality instruction. The secretaries of the Agency of Human Services and the Agency of Education will report back to lawmakers with recommendations no later than Nov. 1.
School district merger changes
Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Calais, and Sens. Ann Cummings D-Washington and Anthony Pollina P/D-Washington, submitted H.15 and S.15, joint bills that would have would have maximized flexibility for school districts under Act 46.
The Ancel-Cummings legislation would have extended deadlines, protected small school grants and forced the State Board of Education to consider alternative merger plans.
Instead, lawmakers created two new models for merging school districts. In addition, the legislation offers new tax incentives and retains small school grants. Deadlines for mergers were extended to Nov. 30.
The deadline for proposing an alternative structure is moved from November to Jan. 31, 2018, and proposals can be made beginning Oct. 1. Lawmakers also changed some of the rules the State Board of Education must use to create a statewide merger plan. Existing supervisory districts with at least 900 students will be exempt from the statewide plan, for example.
By July 1, the SBE will need to figure out how it will decide if a school district is considered geographically isolated. A list of these school districts must be published by Sept. 30 so that some areas will have more certainty about whether they need to merge or not. The Agency of Education told lawmakers they do not have the capacity to meet the deadline.
Private school rule changes delayed
Sens. Brian Campion D-Bennington and Dick Sears, D-Bennington, wanted to strip the State Board of Education of the authority to set rules for private schools.
The Senate nixed that proposal and set up a study panel made up of two legislators, several representatives of private schools, several from the public schools, a member of the state board and the Secretary of Education.
The group will make recommendations on how to hold private schools that accept public money accountable. The panel is charged with looking at enrollment policies, special education services and financial reporting requirements.
In the meantime, the SBE must suspend rule making on the issue.
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