Regional Industry & News

Campaign Countdown: Scott, Janoo offer sharply different visions for Vermont education reform

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - With Election Day 25 days away, Republican Gov. Phil Scott and Democratic challenger Amanda Janoo are offering sharply different visions for education reform as Vermont grapples with declining enrollment, slipping test scores and a growing burden on property taxpayers.

Vermont spends $2.5 billion a year — among the most in the country — to educate 73,000 school-aged children. “We need to fix the system that’s broken,” Gov. Scott said.

He says the state’s education system is outdated and that the costs to support it are crushing taxpayers, not providing enough opportunities for students, and creating inequities among school districts.

Last year, the governor spearheaded a plan to find efficiencies and cost savings by consolidating Vermont’s roughly 119 school districts. But facing a political impasse, he compromised with Democrats in the Legislature to create a new school funding formula and allow districts to voluntarily merge.

“We have fewer kids that are enrolled, so we have to do something to consolidate,” Scott said. While he acknowledges his proposal to consolidate is not politically popular, he maintains that it will bring down costs and improve opportunities. “How do we get to a point where we are delivering the education quality kids deserve and we are getting it at a cost Vermonters can afford, because we can’t afford what we have now.”

Amanda Janoo envisions a much different future. She opposes forced mergers and consolidation, and instead proposes giving decision-making power to communities. “Communities are going to have a good sense of what their children uniquely need,” Janoo said.

Despite Vermont’s declining student enrollment, Janoo says small schools need to stay open because, in the long run, the state may see an influx of political and climate refugees. “How do we invest in those institutions and keep them strong to serve a wide array of needs in the community?” she said.

She believes Vermont should turn to the “community school” model, where schools become hubs for education, health care, and child care under one roof.

She says a tax on Vermont’s top earners, which will save about $110 million annually in health care costs, will bring down school spending. “What role do we have as the state, as a purchaser, as a regulator, to stop the rising drivers of those costs?” Janoo said.

The work of this session’s education reform deal is already underway, including voluntary merger committees, a new foundation formula, a new tax on second homes and more. But those reforms won’t come to pass until 2029.