This commentary is by Seth and Kate Leach of Pawlet, Hanna Fay of Pawlet, Shawn and Sara Gingue of Waterford, Jeremy Russo of Rupert, and Christopher Smid and Hilary Solomon of Middletown Springs.
For the past year (and more), we have watched while Vermonters concerned about the cost and quality of education have debated the knotty issue of education finance reform. We have been saddened to see various groups (such as the Friends of Vermont Public Education) leverage this important public debate as an opportunity to attack our unique education system and our local independent schools. These efforts do nothing other than take educational opportunities away from our kids in rural communities like ours.
With the passage of H.454, we hope that all Vermonters — including those of us in the communities historically served by independent schools — can recognize that our leaders in Montpelier may have come up with a cure that isn’t worse than the disease. One that encourages efficiencies that don’t come at the cost of excellence and equity, and that does not “fix” our state’s education affordability crisis by requiring areas like ours to spend money we don’t have on new schools we don’t need.
In a line that runs diagonally from Bennington County in the southwest all the way up to the Northeast Kingdom, independent schools have stepped in, not to compete with public schools, but to fill gaps in the public system.
These independent schools have pioneered programs to support students living in poverty, and offer alternative paths to graduation for kids who might otherwise drop out. They have strong anti-discrimination policies, restorative justice practices that keep kids in school and high academic standards that prepare students for the futures they want to build.
All that for kids, like ours, from families who wouldn’t dream of trying to find five figures a year to pay elementary or high school tuition. Our children have incredible learning opportunities — nurturing teachers, AP classes, internships, travel opportunities, International Baccalaureate classes — because our tax dollars go to these independent schools, most of which raise money themselves to make up the difference and pay for the buildings and tools they need to teach.
To be clear, we’re not talking about a “voucher” system, taking dollars from existing public schools — we’re talking about town tuition going to approved independent schools where public school grades don’t exist.
We literally didn’t build the public schools that our independent schools are supposedly competing with unfairly; we didn’t need to. We don’t want to now. Why spend tens of millions of dollars duplicating resources we already have, especially when the crisis Vermont education is facing is a fiscal one?
There is no question that Vermont’s school funding model has been in dire need of reform, and we support the notion of more efficient administration, and even the painful truth that some schools may have to close. But there is no reason to target independent schools that have stepped in to fill an educational void for our students in rural Vermont, and have done so cost-effectively and incredibly well.
The framework agreed upon is a starting point, and the devil is always in the details; clearly, the process of designing the new districts will be yet another opportunity for those who don’t understand these independent schools to try to eliminate them. But in this moment, we are incredibly grateful to all those in the state house who stayed focused on the real financial issues facing our entire system, and were unwilling to scapegoat the incredible schools that serve our kids with misinformation and rhetoric that simply does not align with the facts.
To everyone who’ll have a hand in this process going forward, please just remember the immortal advice of the great teacher Hippoccrates: first, do no harm.
