Editor’s note: This commentary by Rama Schneider, an elected member of the Williamstown School District board of directors.
[V]ermont’s school district boards should withhold some or all dues requested by the Vermont School Boards Association.
The VSBA’s mission statement reads: “The VSBA exists to achieve our vision for public education by supporting all school boards to serve as effective trustees for education on behalf of their communities and by providing a strong collective voice toward enhancing the cause of public education in Vermont.”
Understand that first sentence: The VSBA exists to achieve the VSBA’s vision for public education!
The VSBA no longer pretends to be responsive to any district boards except those large enough to qualify as a stand-alone supervisory district. This is evidenced by a new dues structure that is designed to recognize supervisory unions and only a subportion of Vermont’s school districts, the supervisory districts. This consolidation may work to the benefit of superintendents and the VSBA itself, but it also creates an atmosphere where the VSBA formally aligns itself with a pro-merger political message.
Ironically, the VSBA had spent a great deal of time post-Act 46 denying it was taking sides on the school district merger debate. This pretense has now been dispensed with.
The VSBA has similarly failed at providing “a strong collective voice.” Many school board members across the state during the debates leading up to Act 46 of 2015 and afterwards expressed dismay over what was perceived as a VSBA bent on pushing the merger of school districts. This should have served as a warning that either no collective voice was to be had on this subject or there had been no process to assure a truly inclusive and collective message was developed.
Regardless of the reason, the VSBA failed to learn from this and proceeded in 2017 to openly advocate for health insurance and contract negotiation-related policies without any serious effort to ascertain the views of school district boards from all corners of the state. These positions taken by the VSBA are at odds with school board members throughout Vermont, and this is an ongoing abject failure of the VSBA board especially regards its second role as prescribed in the VSBA bylaws: “The regional representatives will develop a liaison relationship with boards in their area, promoting local board involvement in association activities and services, and hearing their concerns and input on matters of broad public policy.”
I consider it to be extremely unfortunate that the VSBA as an organization refuses to address these realities in a way that is leading to demonstrable change. The VSBA instead has further entrenched itself within a comfortable cocoon of its own board and the Vermont Superintendents Association.
The most unfortunate outcome of the above is that the VSBA has and continues to ignore the needs of Vermont-style school boards acting as Vermonters, and it truly doesn’t have be that way. Not long ago the VSBA in partnership with the Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust set out to provide teaching, information and guidance regarding negotiating health insurance with teachers and other staff. The trainings were well received and just as well attended. Perhaps some school board members wouldn’t be throwing their hands up in piques of self-imposed ignorance regarding contract negotiations if the VSBA did this on a regular basis and expanded it to include negotiating a contract in general.
For that matter, the VSBA has never addressed the most basic responsibilities of being a Vermont school board. I have never heard a VSBA training explain what the responsibilities of our district boards are as defined by 16 VSA, Vermont’s education law.
I cannot and will not stand by as tax funds are used for lobbying against the expressed interest of many of the school districts that are responsible for how those dollars are used. I cannot and will not consign funds for training sessions intended to advance the views of the VSBA and not the needs of all our district boards. The VSBA has left those district boards unhappy with the current situation no recourse other than simply withholding dues.
School boards across Vermont are embarking on the budget process. Now is as good a time as ever to leave the VSBA out or at least reduce the amount to be paid.
