Thursday, February 22, 2024 | Making the Grade Brattleboro Reformer | Bennington Banner | Manchester Journal 14
COMMENTARY
State Representatives: Setting the record straight on independent schools BY SETH BONGARTZ, SCOTT BECK, MICHELLE BOS-LUN, BOBBY FARLICE-RUBIO, ROBIN CHESTNUT-TANGERMAN, MIKE R ICE A recent commentary by Reps. Rebecca Holcombe of Norwich, Erin Brady of Williston and Monique Priestley of Bradford, while making a few fair points about the rising cost of education, unfortunately ended with inflammatory rhetoric about independent schools and the Vermont style of school choice that has provided amazing opportunities for generations of students in rural Vermont (“Rising education spending driven by state-level problems,” Dec. 16). The thrust of this argument is that students from rural parts of Vermont are driving up taxes because they attend independent schools. These three representatives then assert that our students are served by an “uncontrolled, poorly regulated” voucher system. We are compelled to set the record straight. First, Vermont does not have an education voucher system. A voucher system, like we see in some other states, is one where a school district operates a public school, while also providing an
option for families to withdraw their children and take a “voucher” to another school. This voucher has the effect of draining resources from the local public school. But, under Vermont law, families have no entitlement to tuition payments from their school district if the district operates a public school. In rural parts of Vermont, a number of school districts do not operate public schools for some or all grades. In these rural areas without public schools, school districts can pay tuition for students to attend independent schools, such as Burr & Burton Academy, St. Johnsbury Academy and others. Often, public schools located in operating towns are only peripherally available – if at all – to these rural areas. They are not a viable alternative. Independent schools fill the gaps. Second, this is not an “uncontrolled, poorly regulated” system that is driving up taxes for the rest of Vermont. As a benchmark, Hanover High School, the out-of-state public school serving students from Norwich, has the highest tuition rate of any high school paid by Vermont taxpayers – $23,598. By comparison, the Taconic & Green School District, which serves parts of Bennington, Windham and Windsor counties and is served by
independent high schools, pays a tuition rate of $19,987 to Vermont independent schools – a savings of $3,600 per student that benefits all Vermont taxpayers. Unlike public schools, Vermont’s independent schools require approval and re-approval by the State Board of Education at least once every five years, and they must demonstrate compliance with strict regulations laid out in statute and in rules promulgated by the State Board of Education. This includes compliance with anti-discrimination rules that protect vulnerable students and staff, including our LGBTQ+ community. In addition to complying with stringent regulations, Vermont’s independent schools are held accountable to the highest standards of all – the need for the support of families and local school districts. Independent schools survive only when they deliver high quality education, for the simple fact that families can exercise a choice of where to send their children. And if the availability and quality of independent school options is not meeting the needs of the community, the local voters always have the power to end tuition payments by building and maintaining their own public schools.
