Discover More from This Category: Opinions
Act 76 is leading to newfound stability forchild care programs and families
July 3, 2024
Dear Editor, Editor’s note: This letter is authored by 15 child care program directors and owners from across the state. They are listed at the end of the letter. Last year, we came together as child care program owners and early childhood educators from around Vermont to sound the alarm on the dire state of Vermont’s…
Political courage will help build a stronger Vt
July 3, 2024
By Don Tinney Editor’s note: Don Tinney is a longtime high school English teacher at BFA-St. Albans and now represents 13,000 educators as president of Vermont-NEA. No political insiders in Montpelier were surprised when Sen. Jane Kitchel condemned the Scott administration’s proposal to zero out the education fund reserves to provide short-term property tax relief,…
Working together toward affordable, quality ed solutions
June 26, 2024
Dear Editor, Back in late February, I had to stand up at Town Meeting and tell my community that I anticipated our taxes would increase by double digits. It wasn’t fun. We’re looking at a 15% increase and I’m not at all happy about it. I have to pay it, too. My town elected me…
VSBA seeks to address root cause of high ed spending
June 26, 2024
Dear Editor, As this school year ends, schools are celebrating graduations. This is an important moment for all our students, families, and educators across Vermont. It is a celebration that public education is at the center of our communities and the foundation of our democracy. As our high school graduates around the state go out…
AJGA is a good fit for GMNGC
June 26, 2024
Dear Editor, As many may know, this week was the annual AJGA (American Junior Golf Association) tournament at Green Mountain National Golf Course (GMNGC) here in Killington. It is a wonderful event bringing in families from around the world. I have been lucky enough to volunteer there for a number of years and I always…
The impact of veto overrides
June 26, 2024
By Gov. Phil Scott Editor’s note: At his weekly press conference Wednesday, June 19 Governor Phil Scott addressed the impact the Legislature’s veto overrides will have on Vermont taxpayers, workers and families and their ability to afford to live in the state. What follows is a transcript of his remarks. The Legislature voted to override…
Vermont values under ‘atax:’ Vermonters rally to challenge threat to food, water, shelter
June 19, 2024
Dear Editor, A broad cross section of Vermonters gathered in the State House cafeteria to express their displeasure with the direction the state’s political leadership is taking them. (And that was April 25; things have not improved since.) Feeling ignored or otherwise discounted and marginalized, and in some cases, even mocked, the diverse group chose…
Universal School Meals: Delivering for Vermont children, families and schools
June 19, 2024
By Teddy Waszazak Editor’s note: Teddy Waszazak is a resident of Barre and the Legislative Policy Lead at Hunger Free Vermont, a statewide advocacy and education nonprofit working to end hunger in Vermont. As another school year comes to a close, all of us in Vermont have two exciting milestones to celebrate: the start of…
VTSU should renew its commitment to diversity office
June 19, 2024
Dear Editor, In the summer of 2020, the nation watched 8 minutes and 46 seconds of video of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a detained man named George Floyd until Floyd was asphyxiated to death. It was horrific, and Floyd was only one of several people of color who died at…
Scott was right to veto H.887
June 19, 2024
Dear Editor, Our state Legislature is meeting this week to vote on overriding Governor Scott’s vetoes of legislation introduced during the latest session. One of the bills for consideration is H. 887, the annual “yield bill,” which funds our public education system through property taxes. Governor Scott has rightly vetoed this bill because, according to…
Biden’s ‘weakness’ isn’t his age, it’s his timidity
June 19, 2024
By Angelo Lynn Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is publisher of the Addison Independent, a sister paper to the Mountain Times. On a few notable foreign policy issues, President Joe Biden, along with fellow Democrats and Progressives, need to reset their politics to match today’s reality. Specifically, how America manages immigration on its southern border needs…
A right is never permanently won
June 12, 2024
By Allen Gilbert Editor’s note: Allen Gilbert is a former journalist, teacher and ACLU-VT executive director. He chaired his school board in Worcester when it joined the education funding lawsuit that resulted in the Brigham v. State decision by the Vermont Supreme Court in 1997. Gilbert is the author of “Equal Is Equal, Fair Is Fair,” a…
Short-term rentals are a scapegoat for every housing issue
June 12, 2024
Dear Editor, Short-term rental owners are not the evil housing tycoons we are sometimes made out to be. Vacation rentals peppered around our state make up just 2.5% of our housing stock yet contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to our state budget in the form of rooms/meals taxes and consumer spending. I’ve lived in Guilford for…
Override Scott’s veto to protect pollinator, ecosystem, public health
June 12, 2024
Dear Editor, In the peaceful farmlands and meadows of Vermont, a silent emergency unfolds. Bees, the heart of our agricultural ecosystem, face unprecedented threats to their survival. Despite Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Market reports claiming that bee populations are thriving, beekeepers around the state emphasize the deteriorating health of their colonies. These adverse…
Vermonters deserve affordability, but Gov. Scott has no ‘grand plan’
June 12, 2024
By Rep. Rebecca Holcombe Editor’s note: Holcombe is the state house representative for Windsor-Orange 2 and member of the Vermont House Appropriations Committee. She also served as the Vermont Secretary of Education 2014-2018. It’s groundhog day. Governor Scott vetoed the yield bill, again leaving Vermont school districts adrift. The reason: all the school budgets voters…