Dear Editor,
Last week, the Senate Education Committee got to work on H.454, the education reform bill that recently passed the House. While the Senate’s new draft preserves many of the bill’s broad goals, it also reflects a troubling shift in priorities, particularly when it comes to holding independent schools that receive public dollars to the same standards as public schools.
Friends of Vermont Public Education is working to ensure accountability and transparency wherever public education dollars are spent. We believe that any school receiving taxpayer funds should meet the same standards and serve the public good, as required by Vermont’s Constitution.
Every school should be safe, focused on real learning, and run responsibly. Every child deserves to be taught by someone who is qualified. And any school that receives public funding should be held to public standards and answer to the public that is paying the bill. That is basic common sense.
We may not be able to set rules for every private school in Vermont. But when a school accepts taxpayer money, it must be expected to follow public rules.
The Senate’s version of H.454, however, steps back from some of the House’s stronger accountability measures. It lowers the threshold for tuition eligibility, removes broader requirements for demonstrating high standards, and maintains limited oversight of how public dollars are used in private settings. This raises serious concerns about the continued gaps in transparency, oversight, and student protections.
Public schools in Vermont are doing their part. They hire licensed teachers, teach to clear state standards, open their finances to public review, and operate transparently. Schools that take public funding should be expected to meet those same core obligations.
If public money is flowing into both public and private schools, Vermonters should have the same ability to understand, trust, and evaluate how that money is being used.
If a policy is important enough to require of public schools, it should be important enough to require of all publicly funded schools. What we cannot accept is two sets of rules, one strict for public schools and one looser for private schools funded by the same taxpayer dollars.
As the Senate continues its work, Friends of Vermont Public Education will be following the process closely and weighing in. We are committed to pushing for a system where public dollars come with public standards, because every student deserves a safe, high-quality education, and every taxpayer deserves transparency and accountability.
Thank you for standing with us.
Friends of Vermont Public Education board of directors: Geo Honigford, South Royalton; Adrienne Raymond, Shrewsbury; Ken Fredette, Wallingford; Krista Huling, Cambridge; Greg Hughes, Bethel; Kim Gleason, Grand Isle; Neil Odell, Norwich.
