By Jack Hoffman The Equal Educational Opportunity Act, better known as Act 60, is 20 years old on Monday. On June 26, 1997, at an outdoor ceremony in Whiting, Gov. Howard Dean signed into law Vermont’s unique and groundbreaking education […]
Tag: op-ed
Downtown Rutland continues to evolve, adapt
By Steve Costello As regular readers may recall, I am a lover of fables, stories that for generations have carried a message. With the recent news about the purchase of two key downtown buildings by MKF Properties and plans in […]
Congress needs to reassert itself on use of force
By Lee H. Hamilton The Trump administration, like its predecessors, has shown an apparent appetite for the use of force overseas. The “mother of all bombs” dropped on Syrian troops, saber-rattling toward North Korea, proposed deployments of U.S. forces in […]
Make college accessible for all students
By Sen. Bernie Sanders The good news is that Vermont has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the country; fully 88 percent of our kids leave high school with a diploma. All of us — parents, educators, […]
Trump’s budget is a disaster for Vermont
By Senator Bernie Sanders President Trump’s budget is morally obscene and bad economic policy. It would cause devastating economic pain to tens of thousands of Vermonters, making it harder for our children to get a decent education, harder for our […]
The climate economy is Vermont’s answer to growth
By Larry Williams As the numbers of people who participated in the climate march recently showed, Vermonters and Americans across this country are concerned about climate change. Millions of Americans want action. And while the president and his cabinet are […]
Talking to the other side
By Lee H. Hamilton I’ve had a number of conversations recently that convince me our country is divided into two political camps separated by a deep and uncomfortably wide gap. No, I’m not talking about liberals and conservatives, or pro- […]
Teacher animosity tied to taxpayer anxiety
By Jon Margolis, VTDigger We have seen the enemy: teachers. They are bankrupting the state. They make too much money. Their benefits are too generous. They have too much political power. So, at least, one might think from some of […]
The political “big one”
By Mike Smith Race fans at Talladega Superspeedway call it “the big one.” It usually happens toward the end of a NASCAR race when drivers are tense, emotions are high, and the cars are tightly bunched, vying for a win. […]
Legalizing marijuana: A very savvy bill Gov. Scott can sign
By Angelo S. Lynn While Gov. Phil Scott’s coup to have the state negotiate teachers’ health care benefits has been the unforeseen show-stopper of this legislative session, that a bill moving toward legalizing marijuana made it to the governor’s desk […]