It doesn't have to take a lot of your time to stay on top of what the House and Senate Education Committees are looking at for new legislation. We post their weekly discussion and testimony schedule HERE, along with an archive of previous weeks' agendas. WE do have observers who report back to us on the results of the discussions. So far the committees are getting up to speed on their subject matter, hearing introductory testimony from the various groups, and determining priorities for the session. Bills are still surfacing and we will report back on which bills "make it off the wall." (Each committee room has a bulletin board covered in index cards that represent each bill that has been introduced. The committee decides which bills will be discussed and moved forward, so the bill "makes it off the wall." Literally only a few bills make it off the wall during a legislative session.)

If you have any interest in observing a committee discussion or testimony, please contact us. Your government's work is open to the public, and it is an invaluable experience that can take a few hours, or several days, depending on your available time and interest.


Act 153 required the Commissioner of Education report to the legislature by January 15th, the results of a study examining issues related to full scale vouchers in Vermont. That PDF report is available HERE. The bulk of the studies referenced in the study do not represent the demographics of Vermont, or our current tuitioning system. Unfortunately it will be of little use in furthering the discussion of school choice in a meaningful way. 

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIESFrom the reports we've been receiving, it looks like educational legislative priorities this session (as determined by the House and Senate Education Committees) will include: 

1. Making technical adjustments to Act 153 (Please check out the Act 153 report of Supervisory Union's considering consolidation, and what their superintendents point out as difficulties with the merger framework of Act 153)
   
2. Addressing the achievement gap between among students of different socio-economic levels
3. Reconsidering how the Commissioner of Education is appointed (it is not a cabinet level position, the movement would be toward a Secretary of Education)
   

NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK
National School Choice week is NEXT WEEK. We'll be collaborating with another Vermont group to highlight school choice, a bit closer to town meeting day for more impact. Stay tuned...