Explaining my NO vote on the education reform bill.
Friends and Neighbors,
I want to alert you to the fact that I am likely to vote NO on H.454, the education governance and finance bill heading to the floor on Monday. I want to provide as much advance notice as I can in case anyone might want to engage with my intentions.
The bill is already being marketed as a major investment in Vermont’s education system. But I urge us all to look past the headlines. The truth is, this is a Trojan Horse being framed as a gift to public education when, in reality, it carries a set of policies that threaten to undermine it from within.
I’ll do my best to summarize my concerns after my initial read of the bill that was voted out of the conference committee on Friday afternoon. Speaking honestly, I’m still doing a lot of rereading to make sure I’ve got a clear understanding of the final product.
Public dollars are being funneled toward private institutions without appropriate guardrails. Independent high schools will now be allowed to charge up to 5% above base tuition even if they don’t meet the same Education Quality Standards that public schools must meet.
There are no real protections in place to prevent school closures or rapid conversions to “choice” models, leaving public districts exposed to sudden disruption with no meaningful public process. These protections had been in place and were removed late in the process.
A study is funded to revisit the weights and cost factors which have enormous consequences for districts like ours, but the results are non-binding. Meanwhile, independent CTE centers are exempt from tuition caps, giving them an open door to public dollars while our own district’s funding stability hangs in the balance. That’s a hard line for me.
The bill’s property tax reclassification structure is built on sand. If the legislature doesn’t pass tax multipliers by July 1, 2028, or finalize district maps by January 1, 2027, the entire framework collapses. We’re being asked to gamble on major system changes without securing the most basic prerequisites.
Finally, I am completely baffled by what appears to be the reality about how this bill is likely to pass. It is quite feasible that it will pass with a Republican majority and just a minority of Democratic support. This, despite the fact that Democrats hold majorities in both chambers. That should tell us everything about whose vision this bill truly reflects.
To be clear, there are pieces of the bill worth exploring further, particularly the potential to adjust the non-homestead tax structure so that second-home owners pay a more proportional share. But if we’re unwilling to seriously consider an income-based solution to school funding, we shouldn’t pretend this bill reflects bold structural reform. If we’re not going to give due diligence to the most significant contributors to the escalating costs of our public education system (health care and special education needs), we’re merely arranging the curtains on the Titanic.
I ran to protect and strengthen public education and our public school faculty and staff, not to help usher in its gradual erosion under the banner of modernization.
If you have thoughts, questions, or concerns, please reach out. I do want to hear from you before we vote on Monday. I have a lot on my plate for the weekend, but I will do my best to check email as often as I can before heading to Montpelier on Monday.
— Troy Headrick