The Friends of Vermont Public Education have accused Senators Seth Bongartz of Bennington County, and Scott Beck of Caledonia, of violating Vermont’s ethics laws in their work on the education reform bill. Bongartz is closely connected with the Burr & Burton Seminary of Manchester, and Beck is an employee of the St. Johnsbury Academy, both…

Charles, David, and Bill Koch fought long and hard over their father’s massive inheritance of hundreds of billions of dollars. Their private fortune would be enough to pay for all of public education in Vermont for 72 years. David is dead now, but his spirit lives on in its posthumous quest for rich folks to…

They’ve done this before:Rushed out of the doorA bill few have read,With aspects unsaid.Soon come to repealTheir last-minute dealWhen they see what it doesTo the Vermont that wasOnce well-schooled.But now these foolsWith unqualified staffHave made quite a gaffeThat will cause us much painWith little to gain. It’s what they do best:Conflicts of interestHidden insideAn unfathomable…

I have just finished reading the 154-page education reform bill as it emerged from the conference committee on Friday afternoon. In style, it combines the stream-of-consciousness of James Joyce with the non-sequiturs of Lewis Carroll. But not as much fun to read. It doesn’t do much to improve education. Instead it: Eight new boards and…

Many organizations are involved in the operation, governance, and funding of Vermont public schools today. Hundreds of them. We enjoy: That’s 517 entities, one for every 162 students. Most of these entities elect a board, and most overlap in their responsibilities. No where else in the world are so many entities needed to provide public…

In the days before Vermont provided public high schools, some of our communities set up “Academies” or “Seminaries” that educated students beyond the elementary grades. Often established by religious or charitable or philanthropic groups, the early 1800s witnessed academies  in Newbury, St. Johnsbury, Manchester, Fairfax, St. Albans. Thetford, McIndoes Falls, Corinth, Bradford, and elsewhere. They…

We have good schools in Vermont, but they cost a lot. Our schools are close to their communities, they produce solid results, and they’re good places for our children to be. But they cost more per student than most other schools in the United States and in the world.  From the research posted here on…

The amount we spend per student varies widely among Vermont schools, from a low of $12,000 at the Halifax Elementary school, to $30,000 at the Westminster Elementary School. At the high school level, spending ranges from $12,275 at Lamoille North to $27,412 at Randolph. (These data are sourced from the Announced Tuitions for 2026 published…

Vermont’s first Education Fund was established in 1825 with money from the statewide wealth tax. The funds collected were distributed to the towns for the support of schools, and to pay for the new State Board of Education. The Fund has been in and out and up and down over the years, and remains with…

Our map and table of how Vermont students actually follow their educational paths from kindergarten through grade 12 is now complete. They show that our schools have organized themselves into 50 K-12 clusters, or webs, of elementary, middle and high schools, based on geography and community settlement patterns. (But not always along town or county…