MONTPELIER—The Vermont Senate passed the year’s landmark education bill Monday on a 17-12 vote, a majority built on strong Republican support.
H.454 would entirely transform Vermont’s education funding and governance landscape over several years, consolidating school districts and shifting the balance of power over district budgets from the local to the state level. The House still needs to vote on the proposal, scheduled for later today.
Speaking in support of the bill, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, pointed to the backing it had from Democratic leadership in both chambers, Republican Gov. Phil Scott, and the key lawmakers who drafted the proposal.
“That is huge,” he said.
Yet while top Democrats voiced their approval of the legislation, H.454 passed without strong support from the Senate’s majority party. In the roll call vote, nine Democrats voted in opposition, with seven supporting. Two Republicans voted “no,” and 10 voted “yes.”
Before advancing, the bill had to first survive a procedural attempt to kill it. Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, argued the legislation under consideration was against the body’s rules because it strayed too far from the House and Senate’s previously approved versions.
While the Senate’s rules experts decided Vyhovsky’s argument had merit, senators ultimately chose to suspend their rules and allow the legislation to proceed for a vote.
In a tearful floor speech, Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, who voted against the bill, decried the Senate’s work on the legislation starting from the beginning of the session, singling out key senators’ focus on private schools.
“A lot of the public school community felt ignored by our chamber,” she said.
The vote followed a weekend of intense opposition, including from Vermont’s teachers union, the VT-NEA. School board members and district leaders also went public with their disapproval.
Last week, the six lawmakers tasked with finding compromise on the controversial legislation reached an agreement that also gained the support of Gov. Phil Scott.
Though the legislation proposes generational change, the bill is replete with caveats and contingencies, requiring years of further work until the biggest transitions begin in 2028. Among the most significant moves, H.454 would start to create a new education funding formula, impose class-size minimums and reimagine income-sensitive property tax relief.
Major work still needs to be done. A task force will craft up to three maps of consolidated school districts over the summer for the Legislature to consider next year. Lawmakers also need to figure out how to allocate money for pre-Kindergarten, career and technical education and special education.
