Last weekend, I wrote about the significant problems with the Senate version of H.454, the major education transformation bill that has dominated legislative work this session. Yet again, a lot has changed over the past week! As a result of my vocal objections to the Senate version of the bill, with which many other Senate Democrats agreed, Senate leadership pulled the bill back and essentially started over with the House version of the bill.
I stepped up to craft a compromise version of the bill that would be grounded in empirical analysis, protect public schools, create a reasonable timeline for change, address cost-drivers, more likely lead to stabilized school budgets & taxes, and get the support of Senate Democrats. Over three days, I worked long hours with colleagues and legislative staff, including several incredibly dedicated and talented lawyers and fiscal analysts. This work included intense negotiations with Senator Seth Bongartz, a private school advocate who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Although we had different priorities, I listened intently and approached the discussion with creativity and integrity. In the end, we were able to reach a compromise that our caucus could support.
Compared to the Senate version of the bill a week ago, the Hardy-Bongartz amendment, as it’s been called, would:
1) Ensure a more humane & realistic timeline for change
2) Create a funding system based on empirical research & sound analysis
3) Put experts, rather than politicians, in charge of proposing new school districts
4) Limit public funding for private schools
5) Better address cost-drivers & statewide education reforms
For rural communities who are concerned about class-sizes or school district configurations, this compromise would create much looser class-size limits and more flexibility with the way new school districts, including options for supervisory unions, are configured. The new funding formula would not go into effect unless new school districts are approved by the Legislature and there is a full analysis of the impact of the new formula.
As with all compromises, I don’t love everything in it, but it’s a huge improvement over the previous Senate version. I was able to vote for the bill to move it forward to the House, which will either send it to a conference committee or straight to the Governor. Unfortunately, despite my hard work, I will not be a member of the conference committee, but I will be watching closely to see if the final bill is something I can still support. While I know the Governor would like changes, he should be content that the bill contains the basic structure of his original proposal – a foundation formula, a path to larger school districts, statewide education reform, and property tax changes that should benefit thousands of Vermonters.
I hope this will be the last week of the session – I am exhausted! I’ll be back with an end-of-the-session summary, but until then, congratulations to the Middlebury College graduates and thank you to everyone who has served our country in the armed forces. Happy Memorial Day!
Photo Note: Talking with Vermont Public education reporter, Lola Duffort, after presenting the compromise bill to the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Ruth for Vermont 