For the record, school choice currently pays for students to attend any school, anywhere. There are a not insignificant number of students currently attending private schools in another state or even another country, and taxpayers have to pay for it. This bill seems super reasonable, I hope it moves forward.

I just saw an article that the Mid Vermont Christian School forfeit their basketball game because there was a trans player on the opposing team. They school filed for state money, with the caveat that they refuse to “give up” their rights to not follow Vermont’s equal rights laws in terms or treatment of LGBTQ+ people and more. I think it’s more than fair that the state is considering denying this funding.

Independent schools have been serving rural towns without public schools since 1869. If the issue is discrimination, act 173 and the 2200 series rules have addressed that. At minimum, they should study the economic impact of this bill on rural communities. Beyond the four traditional academies (all of whom oppose this bill, BTW), towns like Sharon, North Bennington, Kirby, and much of SW Vermont have good, long standing relationships with independent schools that have served those communities needs so well that their economies have come to rely on that relationship.

https://vtdigger.org/2023/02/27/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player/. This should not be funded using our tax dollars.

Yeah I don’t want my tax dollars funding this horseshit. Either respect the law or give the money back!

This bill was designed around specifically protecting and not including the four traditional independent schools. It was endorsed by the school boards association, the principal's association, superintendent's association, and the national education association AKA the NEA the largest Union in the state. It's so rare to find an issue but all four of these groups unanimously agree on.

“Please fund us and let us discriminate..I mean follow our backwards religious decree(s).” - vibe I got from this letter.

That's all well and good, but schools like the VT Christian Academy want public money while refusing to abide by VT state anti-discrimination laws. If a school cannot agree to abide by the law, I don't want my tax dollars going to support their bigotry. Put the money toward creating a public school in the area that will support all students.

>443 attend out-of-state schools

According to the article

Private school supporters keep saying discrimination isn't an issue anymore. Meanwhile, at Mid Vermont Christian School....

Good.

As someone who went to a Catholic school growing up in NY, their practices are based on a business model. Among other issues, like religious indoctrination (I was chastised and punished for refusing to participate in religious ceremonies), schools that operate outside the educational laws of the state should not receive public funds. Full stop. I understand some communities have been served by private schools for decades and those schools are ingrained in the fabric of those communities, but if the people in those areas want to volunteer to support those schools, that's their choice. It shouldn't be the state's burden, especially if the practices of those schools support bigotry like the Mid Vermont Christian School.

Schools and public services should not be based on a private business model. This bill is sensible and paves the way for communities that have lacked a public school to gain access to a public school system that relies on legislated standards.

RIP to Sharon Academy. Its too bad one of the few progressive small schools it getting caught up in this.

Including “Traditional” independent schools is really trying to thread the needle.

Unless subsidies to ALL private schools go away, the lawsuit will again be filed for discrimination and the state will lose. The court ruling was clear. States don’t have to provide subsidies to private schools, but if they do, they can’t discriminate.

To allow the traditional 4 academies to exist in this scheme, they need to become public school entities. If they continue as private entities, they should not receive public funds.

Ha maybe the assc did as they stand to get more cash potentially but my school district spoke against it clearly. A large amount of kids in our district attend independent schools as there are no high schools run by the district.

One side is people arguing that their religion should control education, the other side arguing that the government should and I don't trust either of them to have the best interest of the student at heart. The Vermont Independent schools provide a vastly superior education, not tied to the edicts of a higher power with dubious motives for the same cost as sending the kids to some rural shit hole public school. (For far less when you factor in you will have to build that rural shithole public school first). As long as they are following the law, leave them alone. They are spending that money better than the public schools are for better results for Vermont children.

Sadly I think they have an out. They will argue that the districts could choose an independent or religious school as one of the three they will be allowed to send kids to. That way they can say they are not discriminating specifically.

Not to mention all the kids that would be harmed in my district from this there is a more insidious issue here and it's one of basic respect for the courts and our legal system. No matter what side you are on here the SCOTUS ruled on this case and the state is trying to circumvent that ruling with this legislation which to me seems wrong. Sorry but this reminds me of the election deniers in a way. Take the loss and move on.

~6000 students were eligible to attend schools outside of their small, rural town using state appropriations in FY 2020-2021.

It was about half and half in terms of student enrollment. Half went to public schools and half went to private schools (roughly) and it cost the state approximately $50 million dollars to send kids to private schools (religious and non-sectarian).

Out of the 3000 students who chose to attend private schools, only 12 students chose to attend religious schools as of FY 20-21. This expense cost taxpayers $150,000 dollars. This is not a burden to the state. The State Senate is making a mountain out of an ant hill with this proposed legislation, and in fact are becoming discriminatory in the process. They are selecting institutions that are well off financially (SJA in particular).

Furthermore, the recent decision of Carson v. Makin is clear. The state has to pay for this if they want to continue the historic model of private independent schools in some of Vermont’s towns. You cannot pick and choose your favorite schools.

Legislators need to stop avoiding this obligation to the people of this state. They need to stop wasting their time and our money trying to create loopholes to stop/prolong this process. Instead, the legislation this session and in future sessions should focus on empowering parents in the decision making process of school selection.

S.66 is unconstitutional.

Many small schools will close due to this. Not every student is right for a large public school. And quite frankly the East Burke School mentioned in the article is one of the best in the state and it would be a fucking shame if it had to close.

For context this number is not really what it seems I think most of these students are in border areas. Many kids in my district go to high school in NH as it's about 30 mins closer than anything else. More necessity than choice sometimes.

Well said thanks! I have a child in one of these independent schools and this would ruin her. She's not typical and has skipped quite a few grades and really can only get the advanced education she has at a small school. We had to pull her out of public school years ago and now that shes in high school with school choice we can send her to a place best suited to her learning style. This will be hurting hundreds of children that don't even attend religious schools all in the name of anti-religion and attempts to defy a Supreme Court order. Sore losers causing massive collateral damage in their quest.

I went to TSA and honestly credit it for where I am today, 10+ years later. As a sensitive and weird kid, I don’t think I would have thrived elsewhere.

So I might be over simplifying but couldn't we just have a law saying the state will pay $X/student.

As long as the school companies with state educational requirements and discrimination policies they can get said money (religious school or otherwise).

If parents want to send their kids to dumb-ass academy to learn the Earth is a 6000 year old flst disc or that homeopathy should be taken as seriously as actual medicine then that's fine, they just Dont get $0 from the state

That law is in in place today. If there is an issue it's one with enforcement of it. I am not digging it up but there was a thread a few weeks back where I and others posted many links to said laws.

The opposing team’s school, the Long Trail School, would also be stripped of funding under these bills.

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More unintended consequences or is it really unintended after all?

This is great. Basically the opposite of what NH did, which is allow families to take their share of money out of the public fund and use it to send their kids to private school. It's fucking bullshit.

Agreed.

How dare you talk shit about someone's sky wizard.

Many also go to school in Canada because it’s closer. This idea that students going out of state or even out of country is bad, is a distraction.

Private schools should not receive ANY taxpayer dollars.

I don't understand why any private school would get public money! I went to a private school 1-8. As far as I can see the biggest problem we have with public schools is under funding. We are not attracting the best and brightest to the field. Our children are our ONLY future, there is no other.

It's such a regular normal thing that has been going on for ages can't remember the name but that school in Canada even sends a bus to Newport or Derby to collect the students. Wonder how that worked during covid though with the border closure?

I love how a “school choice” bill actually is limiting school choice. As long as a school agrees to the anti-discrimination policies they should be able to accept students and taxpayer funds. But in this bill we are even limiting public dollars to public schools. Currently, as a sending town my kids can go to any public school (actually all Vt students have this option), this bill would limit them to 3 options… for what purpose? Seems like a lack of thought and reasoning on Rep Hardy’s part.

> I don't understand why any private school would get public money

Simple some districts don't have a public high school at all.

Some towns don’t have a local public school

Stanstead.

The whole point of a private school is that it’s private.

If the public is paying, it’s a public school.

Accordingly, any publicly-funded school (private or not) should be forced to comply with any regulations that apply to public school. Don’t wanna comply? That’s fine, but the public isn’t paying for your BS.

It was and it wasn’t. My child attends SJA. That school will be a ghost of what it is now under the bill as proposed as it will force these schools to operate under the same regulations as public schools.

That means things like hiring PhD so and so to teach in his area of expertise because he’s the best person for the job will no longer be allowed because they’ll be required to have a degree is secondary education. So the fact that they may be 100 times more knowledge about the subject matter won’t matter if they can’t get a VT teaching licensure. I’m sorry but my daughter has by far the best teachers I’ve ever seen at this school. There are unintended consequences to these bills as written that need to be addressed. And this is just one example.

This is exactly what I mean about under funding the public schools. Trying to pick a private school to fund instead just seems like asking for trouble. Private schools can teach anything they want (on top of basic curriculum). I think we should add a little on to the income tax (which is progressive meaning charges people with more money more) so that we can fund our schools better. There are probably obstacles that I am not aware of in the regions w/o HSs, but I am willing to spend a lot of money to make sure that public money does not support religious indoctrination. The separation defined in the constitution is critical to our democracy!

Requiring a teacher to have a degree in education doesn't seem all that far fetched to me. Doesn't matter how knowledgeable someone is if they don't know how to effectively pass that knowledge on to others, specifically children, in a meaningful way.

And SJA has been pulling shenanigans for years where it'll claim it's a private school so no one has any say over what it does with its money and then claim it's a public school so give it all the tax dollars please and thank you. The status quo is not working.

Sure that's true in a lot of cases, but it's not uncommon for second home owners to have one parent claim residency in their ski house to get payment for out of state private schools that their kids were attending anyway. I don't want to thow the baby out with the bathwater, but I also don't want to pay for a rich person to send their kid to an elite boarding school. Especially when that kid/rich person aren't even really part of my community in the first place.

“We believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” MVCS head of school Vicky Fogg wrote in an email to the Valley News on Wednesday evening.

While you may find this explanation disingenuous coming from a Christian school, it has merit based on a simple principle of fair play. It's not like the team refused to compete against female players who were black.

Perhaps before making a judgement you should look at outcomes for students and compare those to even the top performing public school in the State. Then your argument about a teaching degree may have some merit. But the outcomes for students speak for themselves. Especially considering SJA and LI serve an enormous number of children from the consistently most economically depressed area of the state, the NEK. Are you from the NEK? Do you have any idea what the culture here is like or the lack of opportunities there will be for the poorest kids in the state if this were to be passed the way it is currently written?

No, you’re more concerned about virtue signaling that private school equals bad. Our public school education system is in shambles for a reason and you think it’s a good idea to force the four schools in question to start running on that model? Maybe actually have some idea what you’re debating before you make comment. I’m an atheist. Avowed socialist since the 90s. This isn’t a black and white issue like people are attempting to make it.

Isn't it weird how when it comes to things like broadband, the state is working to bring that service to underserved areas, but with schools its "well, there's no public school here so we have no choice but to use the private school available"? It stops being weird when you realize for decades now, the pro-business folks have been trying to undermine public education and prop up private schools. They get elected to the school board and purposely underfund the budget (looking at you Barre). Then they cry foul when there is any attempt to get funds back into public schools. They get to undermine public education then point to how ineffective public education is and how private schools are better. All part of the Republican play book where they actively make government worse so they can then tout the benefits of small government.

I think it’s better to have a maximum per student rate and then standards that receiving schools should be held to. This crap with MVC is ridiculous, but Burr and Burton has never had those issues.

Obviously Manchester made the choice to go that way, but look at a town like Ludlow or Grafton. If their local tax base does not support a full high school, they get grouped into another district, but there are 3 high schools close and depending on where in the town you live changes drive time significantly.

Certainly there is an argument for increased taxes in general, but especially in south central VT there isn’t the population density to support local schools.

In fact with the need for alternative schools in general, I think we should be supporting this, but again, with high standards.

No one needs an education degree to get a teaching license. Licensing in Vermont can be pursued the number of different ways and often requires some course work, but definitely doesn't require a specific degree.

It's always weird to me when people wag their finger about rushing to judgement and then freely make their own assumptions.

The public education system is in shambles, specifically because pro-business people have been actively working to undermine public education for decades, including propping up schools like SJA and LI. It's also weird how you say this isn't a black and white issue, yet you're only arguing for private schools here. And for the record, I don't give a shit what religion you may or may not hold, that part is absolutely a distraction. It's about capitalism, not who you pray to. "Avowed socialist," man people really say whatever on the internet, huh?

Edit: This is a great example of people's priorities shifting because they personally see a benefit. You stated you have a kid going to SJA, so now you're strongly defending a private school despite claiming to be an "avowed socialist." So either that was a lie, or your politics take a back seat if you think something is going your way.

You may think your teacher with no teaching degree is a good teacher, but they don’t learn class room management skills or social emotional learning. Right now you can get an emergency licensure anyways, so I’m not sure why this is an issue.

So this hypothetical teacher with no teaching degree will have classroom management skills or social emotional learning? Just being knowledgeable about a topic doesn't make you the best possible teacher available, was my point.

No I’m arguing the issue at hand. The topic of what to do about the shitty schools we have all over the place here in VT wasn’t the topic. There are plenty of things that could be done and should be done to make schools here better. We can never get to any sort of real change because we get hung up on issues like this one.

ETA: you really have no ability to use logic do you lol? This is about education dipshit. We live in a capitalist country. Everything is under the guise of capitalism.

That is the issue at hand. Are we having a funding issue if schools are performing as expected? Don't try moving the goalposts.

Edit: Dude blocked me, such strong convictions. And name calling? Bet you set a great example for that kid lol

There is a max rate already in place. I could be wrong but I think it's set by the individual district not the state but that could be backwards?. If a private or independent school charges more than that the parents have to pay the difference. Many also charge much less btw.

Ah yes. Thanks

Sounds again like an enforcement issue.

SJA is one of the best schools in New England not just VT. They get students from all over the world.

Yes but the majority of their students are poor kids from the NEK.

I live here I am aware and thankful for SJA. The even have a better facility than many colleges do.

The problem is nobody wants to pay more in taxes. Using property taxes to fund education is part of how we ended up in this mess to begin with. Do you really think a Republican Governor, even a moderate one like Phil Scott is going to allow for an income tax increase to fund public education? We are in a real pickle that can only be solved by a complete overhaul, like so many other social issues in our country.

Yes and it will be a travesty if they don’t make some changes to these bills as proposed. The underlying problems with our education system are not going to be solved any time soon and gutting the schools that provide the best education in the state for the most at risk students is not going to help.

I send my child to private school for middle school only due to bullying, racism and a poor curriculum. I don’t expect taxpayers to pay for it. But I disagree public schools need more money to provide a better education. Pretty much all private schools spend less per student than public ones. My child has all academic courses along with art, music and PE. The local public middle school required students to take non-academic courses to fill holes in their schedule and the math and science curriculum are years behind. Plus there’s a no homework policy and no letter grades. The per-pupil cost is twice as much as my child’s tuition. And bullying is ignored even when committee based on race, gender or sexual preference.

The local high school has a great curriculum based on what each student wants to do after graduating and bullying and racism are addressed promptly and efficiently. It will be a great financial relief to benefit from the schools I support with my tax dollars.

The entire idea of "not propping up" places like SJA and LI are insane as most of Kixeliz's rants are she even brought your kid into it!. Actually kinda thankful she blocked me. What's the alternative then? Let SJA and LI die and spend untold millions building new high schools in the area. Not gonna happen. Where will they build them will my kids now have to spend three hours or more on the bus everyday. It's already almost 2 hrs now. Blinded by hatred seems to be a common theme these days.

Yeah I blocked that person because I have no interest in arguing with someone that has tunnel vision and an agenda outside of doing what is best for the children of this state. I grew up in the NEK as a severely disadvantaged kid. I pay out the ass to live where I do now so my kids have better opportunities than going to North Country where if you aren’t a redneck that loves Trump you are bullied into being suicidal. That’s the irony….SJA is the epitome of inclusion, social and emotional safety and superb education. All that persons arguments are about everything other than what is best for children.

ETA: Like you, I have a child who has thrived at one of these schools after having gone through hell for the first 7 years of public school here in the NEK. She spent her entire school career depressed and verging on being suicidal because she wasn’t like the other kids and they made sure she knew it. She has never been healthier or happier or more accomplished and she’s only a freshman. The problem isn’t what these schools are, it’s that the rest of our schools are so mediocre or poor in comparison.

Kinda in the same boat broke ass's most of the time but we did save enough to buy a home and chose our location specifically because we at the time had an elementary and middle school with choice for high school. Then the new district closed the middle school and forced the kids to bus a few towns over to a decrepit school with a collapsing gym roof and a building that is literally sinking into the ground every day. I like smaller local controlled elementary and middle schools but favor a larger regional approach in unpopulated areas like where we live. For example we used to live in Craftsbury and while the high school is nice and was recently redone there are just very few opportunities to learn there. It's impossible to have the varied fields of possible study a larger school can provide in a place like that. I am not knocking it and it's a fine school if you plan to stay in VT and be a farmer or something but there are no advanced classes in much of anything stem related or outside the very basics. Just can't get a break it seems. As usual the most dangerous time to live in VT is while the leg. is in session.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

> She spent her entire school career depressed and verging on being suicidal because she wasn’t like the other kids and they made sure she knew it. She has never been healthier or happier or more accomplished and she’s only a freshman.

That really hits home we are/were in the same exact situation. My daughter actually likes going to school now and hates being late. Odd for a teen right? She has only just started high school this year but my oh my is she absolutely excelling where she is now. Completely changed person for the better and fuck this noise I will fight for these small schools with everything I have.

Same!

Good.

It's ridiculous that local school boards have to go to voters every year begging for funding, but then those dollars follow students to private schools which never have to win a vote.

Private schools can raise tuition if they want/need and that only affects the families involved, but public schools need a majority of the community to agree on a budget and taxes?

Seems really unfair to the local schools. And I say this as a product of private schools.

I thought a Supreme Court decision last year made it so the State has to fund all private school or none? Isn’t that the point of this bill?

This bill would hurt Long Trail more than MVCS. MVCS already gets no public funding and parents will send their kids there whether this bill passes or not, but roughly 2000 Vermont children who mostly attend secular education facilities may have to change schools.

Is that a private school or a public school?

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Yes. Similar to what someone posted below, the total number of students tuitioned out to religious schools across the entire state could fit in a small classroom. Like you said, these* schools existed before the Supreme Court decision and they’re going to continue to exist. These bills would significantly disrupt a couple thousand students and destroy a 150-year-old model of education in the service of making sure a dozen or so kids can’t use the system to attend religious schools. It’s a completely disproportionate response.

Edit: forgot a word

Curious to know what metric you are using to assert that Vermont is underfunded Pre-K-12 education.

Not sure how it's an enforcement issue? It's perfectly legal to do which is why we need new legislation to close some of these loopholes.

I think the real point is that licensing doesn’t make you a good teacher. It’s just a hurdle put in place to protect the status quo of the education establishment.

Kinda. They still wanna fund 4 traditional private academies but exclude the other private schools.

No it is absolutely not legal in anyway shape or form. You admitted so yourself by saying they "claim" residency at a ski house. VT has residency rules. They are breaking them by "claiming" residency.

Enforcement is the issue here. These folks if they are doing as you claim should be forced to repay the state.

https://tax.vermont.gov/individuals/who-should-file/resident

http://tax.vermont.gov/sites/tax/files/documents/15811.pdf

And that in itself could be called discrimination. This whole thing is a shit show.

Unfortunately for your argument, it doesn't really have any actual merit.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trans-girls-belong-on-girls-sports-teams/

Should we ban people with polycystic ovarian syndrome?

Again, unfortunately for you, the science doesn't back up the claims.

I can't help but chuckle at your black player comment, because--quite literally--people have for quite a long time claimed that black people are genetically superior. Lol.

This is nothing more than an attempt to shut down private Christian schools.

Florida here. Our tax money goes to private schools. Parents can get “vouchers” for there kids to go to private schools and we pay for it.

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Not putting public money into private institutions is not the same as trying to shut them down.

If private Christian schools need public funding to survive then they have a shitty business model.

The tactic is subversive in nature. Sure you can still opt to send your children to private school, but that doesn’t exempt you from paying your taxes that fund public schools. So now you are faced with paying for public school and private school. Most people cannot afford both so they are forced to “choose” public school. Enough people do that and the private school can’t stay open.

It is an excellent reason there should be no “public” money, a.k.a. taxes. Let people pay for where they wish to send their children.

When we have been funding these schools since the late 1800's and then turn on a dime yes it most certainly is trying to shut them down or at least a total lack of care for the consequences of this action.

Diversity in education sources, public and private, is a good thing. If an alternative form of education is what an individual student needs and the state can't provide it, then they should pay for it.

Downvote away

Anyone want to build us a high school for less than 20 students in each grade?

... because it's cheaper to pay for them to go to an existing school than build an entire school for such a low population?

It’s pretty simple. Private schools are all operated for profit, not for education. They, like all private companies exclusively care about their profits. It is simply in their best interest to profit more.

The aim of public schools is solely to educate. They cannot make a profit. They’re public assets. Yes, corrupt officials can steal public funds, but stealing public funds isn’t part of the schools business model; because public schools don’t have a business model.

As a result of this, funding private schools with public money is horrendously inefficient. It necessary would be. The two institutions have diametrically opposed aims.

This bill is good. It supports the efficient allocation of our resources. If you need more school options around you, fight for increasing the public school budget; not throwing that budget into a burning pit of money so some wealthy private school owner can steal it for themself.

Residency requirements are enforceable.

Honestly looks like a really good school, with opportunities for clubs and sports that a local school wouldn't even have the population to support.

woah small world im literally friends with said trans person

This will have the "unintentional" consequence of depriving students from poor and rural communities access to schools they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. If you as me this is less about the miniscule amount of religious schools that will be effected and more about keeping the poors out of schools like Longtrail Academy and Burr and Burton and the like.

I’m not sure if you meant to reply to me, but if so I think you misread my post. The bill is limiting school choice between public schools. My point was specifically about public schools, not private schools.

1. do you have a source for the 12 students claim?

2. who gives a fuck if it’s 12 students. (Edit: turns out it’s actually 70, but who’s counting) Public money should not go to private schools that are unable or unwilling to guarantee the same non discrimination practices as public schools.

> Private schools are all operated for profit, not for education

Get out more guy. Many many small schools do NOT make a profit at all. Many are in operation because the operators are really into education and making lives better for our kids. My kid is in a private school that takes tuition funds and we constantly need to fund raise. Us parents get together to help with building maintenance. Painting, scrapping, pluming, building wheelchair ramps etc. Not sure what places you are thinking of but most private schools in Vermont are not raking in the dough and paying huge salaries. That high pay is for the bloated admin in all the districts around the state.

Also if you have noticed religious schools often cost way less than public. For example the Christian school near us is about 5,000 a year compared to about 18,000. I don't think anyone is getting rich there but if they are on a quarter the cost well more power to em.

This is deranged. A decent society would have well funded smaller community schools in every neighborhood. We know what our kids need to thrive, we actively choose to deny them of that. We constantly make the situation worse, not better. Smaller classes. Better pay for teachers to attract the best. Its truly deranged. And if your reason for denying our kids a good education is funding, then I’ve a got a bridge for sale in NY I’d like to discuss with you as you clearly have zero sense. We are the wealthiest country in the world. We are supposedly a Christian nation. It is a choice to deny our kids the education we know that most will thrive in.

What are we doing folks? We are objectively a society that hates its children. The two leading causes of death for children in our country are guns and car accidents. Both could be almost entirely eliminated if us adults collectively decided to actually give a shit.

Nope. Fund public schools. This is deranged.

*sky daddy

Per VTDigger’s Deeper Dig podcast from the Fall of 2022…but I’ve found more recent information increasing that number to 70.

https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Education/Vermont%20Independent%20Schools%20Association/W~Drew%20Gradinger~Vermont%20Independent%20Schools%20Association%20Presentation~2-3-2023.pdf

Gonna edit your comment to reflect the more recent number, or nah?

Still less than a million a year that it costs the state. So in terms of Vermont’s total budget (~8.3 billion dollars) it is minuscule.

Guess not

What an asshole you are. Guy answers your question and you proceed to be a cunt.

Me: Do you have a source for only 12 religious students?

Him: yes but it’s actually 70 not 12 here you go.

Me: that seems like a very different number. Will you update your original post to reflect the more recent and accurate number?

You: GOD WHY ARE YOU SUCH A JERK

leave me alone and go troll someone else :)

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The court did say public dollars can go to private schools, but that doesn’t give them free reign. For example, I can start a school up and not teach anything other than PE. The state still has a way over curriculum and presumably they also have a say over discrimination, there’s certainly a legal argument to be made that a school that doesn’t meet a minimum curriculum standard, or discriminates against students would not be entitled to funding. Honestly I’m not sure what the point of this bill is… it seems to be trying to pick only certain private schools while simultaneously restricting school choice for sending towns. The bill itself doesn’t appear to pass muster with the courts ruling and seems to be Ill thought out.

That's why you have regional high schools

But I was also a sensitive and weird kid but didn't get to go to a private school.

How much better could MY education have been if the money stayed in the public system?

Raise the standards for all kids, not the fortunate few.

But only 1 out of x kids is GETTING that special diversified experience.

Keep the money in public schools and build that experience for all! Shouldn't that be the goal?

Lies! We can all see your words and rewriting them here changes nothing. He gave you the source for the 12 a specific show on VPR and went further with even more updated info. Don't be a dick when someone gives you what you ask for. Are you gonna update your post about who gives a fuck about 12 kids?? Go back to your gaming and stop stirring shit up.

Yeah, that’s the issue. So let’s build one, fund it, and pay teachers a generous wage so we make sure to attract great minds into the profession. And yes, we have the funding.

But if the town only has 40 kids at high school age, is that serving them well. One teacher for each subject, only online electives?

I don’t disagree. I just also agree with the RIP to Sharon Academy sentiment.

> Are you gonna update your post about who gives a fuck about 12 kids?? Go back to your gaming and stop stirring shit up.

Might want to brush up on your reading comprehension skills. I said “who gives a fuck if it’s 12 kids”, not “who gives a fuck about 12 kids”. but you had to make up something that I didn’t say to try to make yourself feel better I guess? Kinda weird.

Anyways I’ll play some games in a bit don’t you worry :)

I think its because the funding for broadband comes from the federal government, but the school budget is all state. funding gets complicated though.

If that's the way you want to go then you're going to see a huge increase in property tax cuz they're going to have to build schools for towns that don't have high schools

This is absolutely about keeping the poors out of their private schools.

So screw the ones that need help until the public system figures it out?

Sounds about right

You can screw whoever and whenever you want. But don't take MY tax money to do it! Do it on your own dime.

Or we could just use the tax money we already pay on things that benefit our communities. We are the richest nation in the world. We are supposedly a Christian nation. Providing the absolute best education for all of our children should be a priority. We treat it as less than an afterthought. It’s shameful. And using money and/or taxes for why we can’t do something like this is a result of brainwashing.

Funding for broad band is a one off. Building, staffing, and maintaining a school in Bloomfield for 5 kids is a reoccurring expense.

The education budget alone currently is over $2.5B. The entirety of revenue generated in the state is ~3.5-4B. Thinking that we have an extra pile of cash kicking around isn’t reality.

It’s not an issue of funding, it’s an issue of priorities. We are the wealthiest country in the world. Money isn’t the problem here.

This is a state issue and Vermont is broke.

Nope. We are failing our kids. It’s shameful. Lack of funding in the richest nation in the world isn’t an actual issue. We’ve got the money. It’s not just a Vermont issue either, we aren’t alone in this.

No, it's keeping tax money in public schools and out of the coffers of private and religious schools. I don't want my tax money funding a Christian school or any religious school for that matter. If you want a Christian education for your children then you should pay for it. Not tax payers. We can use that money to help fix issues with our public school and give kids a good education.

Educating VT students is a state issue and yes funding in VT is a problem. I’d suggest checking out the revenue in VT, GDP, total income, and cost of education and health care. You’ll find out really quick how far off base you are hear. Or you can just repeat how we are the wealthiest nation in the world and that somehow magically means something to education in VT.