Dear Reader,
When Vermonters think about rising education costs, school buses probably aren’t top of mind. But they should be.
When districts began seeing transportation costs jump by 25% or more, we set out to understand why. There was no central data. No state agency tracking who provides these services. So we did the work ourselves.
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To explore what was driving these cost increases, we spoke with superintendents across Vermont. We reviewed records. We traced company ownership. What we found was a shrinking, increasingly concentrated market, in some cases controlled by private equity-backed companies, driving up prices and affecting whether students can reliably get to school.
The story equipped policymakers and the public with essential context as they evaluate whether school district consolidation will reduce financial pressures in public education or shift them elsewhere.
Just yesterday, school bus transportation was the topic of discussion in the Statehouse during a joint meeting of the House Ways and Means and House Transportation committees.
This is what local, community-driven journalism looks like in practice. You can help sustain it with a one-time or monthly contribution today.
Transparency doesn’t happen on its own. Public records don’t explain themselves. Systems don’t become clear unless someone is willing to dig, verify and connect the dots.
That’s the role of a free press.
Our job is to dig deeper and give Vermonters the facts they need to understand what’s happening and what’s at stake, especially in moments like this, as Vermont considers major changes to its education system.
If you believe in that work, we hope you’ll support it.
You can make your contribution here.
Thank you,
Corey McDonald
Education reporter
Greta Solsaa
Southern Vermont Reporter
P.S. Read the full investigation and get up to date on yesterday’s Statehouse discussion about school transportation in our latest edition of Final Reading.
