Plan draws fire from 'choice' towns
Ideas for school consolidation differ in approach
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By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 11, 2010
MONTPELIER – A public hearing on school-district consolidation turned into a referendum on school choice as scores of residents decried legislative proposals they fear will undermine parents' control over their children's educational destinies.
More than 200 parents, educators and students crowded into a Statehouse meeting room Wednesday evening to weigh in on legislative efforts to reduce the number of school districts in Vermont. By and large, they condemned a plan they say looks to cut costs by constraining choice.
"I come to you today as a father and educator with serious concern what has been proposed in this legislative body," Roberto Abele, a Kirby resident, told members of the House and Senate committees on education.
Like many – perhaps most – of the residents in attendance Wednesday, Abele lives in one of the 90 Vermont towns that does not belong to a school district with either a high school, middle school or elementary school. Parents in those so-called "choice" towns can send their children to public or independent schools of their choosing. Abele's daughter attends an independent school in Rivendell.
Legislative proposals to merge small towns like Kirby into larger districts, Abele worried, would take away the school choice he currently enjoys.
"The redistricting proposal … will take away my daughter's choice and force her to attend one of the public schools," he said. "This is regressive legislation that will create a giant step backward for Vermont's educational system."
Vermont has more school boards than it does towns, an oddity of its one-room schoolhouse past that spotlights what some believe is a cumbersome and inefficient system of school governance. And as Vermont looks to control education spending, elected officials are now eyeing district consolidation as a way to decrease school expenses.
Sen. Robert Hartwell, a Bennington Democrat, has written legislation that would shrink the public school system into 16 supervisory union districts statewide. With the effects of a sour economy compounding the impact of education funding on Vermont taxpayers, he said, the school governance system is ripe for change.
Consolidating schools into fewer districts, he said, would allow districts to share services, reduce administrative and other costs, and improve educational opportunities for students.
Rep. Peter Peltz, a Woodbury Democrat who sits on the House Education Committee, said he believes there are merits to district consolidation. However the "top-down" approach favored by Hartwell, he said, won't fly with Vermont residents, nor will it necessarily result in effective governance structures.
Peltz is drafting legislation that encourages districts to consolidate voluntarily by providing financial incentives for doing so.
Many residents testifying Wednesday, however, said any attempt to consolidate districts – and fold "choice" towns into new districts – would limit the number of educational options now available to their children.
"To have the state determine which school is best for my children ... is not appropriate," said Nancy Blessing, a Pittsfield resident whose child attends the Sharon Academy. "I am positive no one wants the state to choose which hospital you have to go to. I want school choice without geographic boundaries."
The Sharon Academy – an independent school that draws revenue from tuitioned students from about 30 towns – was well-represented Wednesday. The school's livelihood depends largely on the choice-town system that allows students in those towns to attend the academy much as they would a public school.
"My husband and I relocated our family and our small businesses to Stockbridge so our daughter could attend the Sharon Academy," said Deborah Aldrich.
Not only would Hartwell's redistricting plan affect her child individually, she said, it would eliminate the choice that schools like Sharon Academy rely on to draw students and support budgets.
"If the number of towns with (school choice) is reduced, the survival of independent schools will be reduced," Aldrich said. "The current tuition policy is one of the most attractive things about rural Vermont."
Peltz's proposal earned some praise, mostly from school administrators who have previously engaged in local consolidation efforts.
Tom O'Brien is superintendent at the Addison Northwest Supervisory District which, on Town Meeting Day, saw its member districts vote to consolidate their disparate boards into a single governing entity. That effort succeeded, O'Brien told lawmakers, because it was led by local residents, not by a centralized state government.
"I strongly support the voluntary merger language in Peter Peltz's proposal and I do not support the top-down approach being presented in (Hartwell's) bill," O'Brien said.
A consolidation mandate from Montpelier, he said, would result in a chaotic system with little public support.
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