1/ 🧵: While #vted is coping with lack of state leadership on #Delta mitigation, the new state board is again eroding inclusion.
The debate over how & whether taxpayer funded private schools should serve students w/ disabilities is a good case study in regulatory capture.
2/ We’ve read in the news about taxpayer-funded private schools & childcares that exclude students based on religion, gender, etc.. A longer term debate has centered on whether taxpayer funded private schools in VT must serve students with disabilities.
vtdigger.org/2021/05/05/ver…
3/ The VT Board of Ed. just proposed new rules for private schools that receive tuition vouchers, as part of delayed implementation of a law that says schools that receive vouchers shall enroll students w/ disabilities who are “placed” there. The board: vtdigger.org/2021/03/17/wit…
4/ Some context: VT private schools that began as public schools historical academies) are approved & equipped to serve students in all disability categories. Two (Burr and Burton & Thetford Academy) serve all students from sending towns.
manchesterjournal.com/news/local/fut…
5/ 30 yrs ago, when the legislature converted VT’s taxpayer-funded academies from public schools w/ private governance into private nonprofits w/ an option of a private & exclusive mission, the #vted GC (Bill Reedy) worried about the risk to VT’s historically inclusive approach.
6/ He was right to wonder. In '15, half of students from districts that pay vouchers enrolled in public schools, but about 70% of students with disabilities from districts that pay vouchers enrolled in public schools.
7/ A previous state board tried to revise rules to ensure equitable access in all taxpayer funded private schools-- a system of students choosing schools, not schools choosing students.
However, these draft rules never made it to public #vted comment.
benningtonbanner.com/ap/state/senat…
8/ Opponents of requiring private schools to enroll students w/ disabilities selectively quoted from statute to claim the board had no authority to make these changes. The chair requested an opinion from the AG's office, which stated the SBE was w/in the scope of its authority.
9/ Some opponents even challenged whether taxpayer funded private schools were subject to the Public Accommodations Act, so again the then chair of the State Board asked the AG for an opinion, and the AG’s office confirmed they were.
10/Opponents of inclusive enrollment turned to the legislature. Senate Ed Chair Baruth (D/P) & Vice Chair Balint (D) proposed language that shelved the SBE’s rulemaking & required appointing a representative of private independent schools to the state board...
11/This is a little like ordering the Green Mountain Care Board to have hospital representative on the board to help set rates & service plans. Or, making the Public Utilities Commission appoint a utility rep (e.g. GMP) to the board, to set rates and decide on projects.
12/ Per one lobbyist:“Unlike the public schools, which are public institutions w/ a mission to provide comprehensive educational programs open to all within their districts, independent schools are non-profit non-governmental organizations w/ different, often narrower missions.”
13/ Another lobbyist told me that they feared that w/out exclusive enrollment, private ski academies could be forced to enroll students in wheelchairs. (Yes, our ski academies play a vibrant role in our state’s brand. Yes, I know Michael Phelps has a learning disability.)
14/ Eventually, the legislature passed language that says taxpayer-funded VT private independent schools (but not out-of-state prep schools) shall enroll students w/ disabilities. Now, the State Board is making rules for how this will happen…or not.
legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2018…
15/ Here’s the catch: under the new proposed rules, enrollment of students with disabilities is only required if the “student meets the other requirements of the school’s enrollment policies.” #vted
16/ It is hard to see how this won’t put #vted back in the business of taxpayer-funded exclusion.
This is not school choice.
This is schools that choose who is a “good fit.”
17/ If you don’t think taxpayer-funded private schools should be able to exclude #vted students because of their religion, because of a LGTBQ parent, or because they are not a “good fit,” you can tell this to the State Board today, the 26th, at noon:
education.vermont.gov/calendar/state…
18/ If, like many in #vted, you care for other people’s children from 12 to 1 pm, write the leaders whose action could preserve tax dollars for inclusive, democratic schools based in VT.
Speaker jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us
Pro Tem bbalint@leg.state.vt.us
19/ As is, every time a town chooses to pull out of its community high school & pay vouchers, including to (selective) private schools, two things happen.
The per pupil cost to remaining towns of the public school that ensures equitable access increases.
vtdigger.org/2021/08/24/lin…
20/ And, since the size of vouchers is tied to the avg announced tuition of public schools, this higher cost, plus new mandates on public schools or equity spending in public schools also increases the size of the voucher to private and selective schools.
21/The Ed. Fund now pays tuition vouchers to religious schools. These new costs will fall on all schools, including the public schools that serve a disproportionate share of VT’s less advantaged students.
rutlandherald.com/news/covid19/r…
22/ Public schools in VT are overseen by democratically elected boards, & funded through direct votes and a funding system that exempts voucher districts from excess spending penalties, even though those are now the highest spending districts on average.
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