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VT Bill 454: Education Transformation

The MTSD Administration and Board of Trustees support changes that:

  1. Provide all VT students with access to an education that supports their success as citizens in a democratic society

  2. Ensure public education is affordable and sustainable for VT Communities

As the session draws to a close, we are concerned about what the final outcome may be. Although the House version of 454 was not perfect, it did provide:

  1. A reasonable process and timeline for redistricting

  2. A foundational formula that included weights that were fair

  3. A plan to address school construction

The most recent version passed out of Senate Finance last week removed important language that will have implications for Milton voters. A few of our concerns include:

  1. The bill ties future education spending to FY25 levels and applies an inflation index that fails to account for projected spikes in healthcare and other costs. This will result in deep cuts in educational programming for some, and large tax increases for others.  

    1. This version would require Milton to either raise 3 million dollars above what it would receive from the State Education fund (and increase the local tax rate) or force us to cut our budget by 3 million. 

  2. The bill does nothing to address the actual drivers of rising costs: healthcare, outdated facilities, and growing student mental health needs. Unfunded and underfunded mandates from the General Assembly continue to place significant burdens on local districts, a pressing example of this is the PCB Testing and Remediation Program.

  3. Rather than advancing a complete, evidence-based funding model, the Senate version offers piecemeal changes. Specifically they have made changes to the weights without modeling the effects. 

  4. The House proposed a diverse and skilled subcommittee to guide redistricting. The Senate replaces this with an all-legislator task force, lacking the required expertise and politicizes a process that should be evidence-based. Put simply, there is no educator or board voice in redistricting the school governance model.

  5. The Senate version has also removed many of the components that actually lead to cost savings and Statewide coherence including: scale (class and school size); state calendar; and unified reporting system.

The Senate amendments to H.454 compromise the core goals of transforming education. As a result, the MTSD Superintendent and Board will exercise their voice for the full Senate to reject this version of the bill. If you have questions about the bill or how to contact and share your perspective with legislators, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.