1. Errecart Tries to Save School Choice for Pregnant Teens
2. An Elegant Solution: Keep the SBOE, Have Governor Appoint Commissioner 
3. NEA Sends Message to Congress
4. Missisquoi’s 100K Mandate
5. How Did You Choose a School?
6. Worth Repeating: Is Your Small School Afraid of Consolidation?

REP. JOYCE ERRECART TRIES TO SAVE SCHOOL CHOICE FOR PREGNANT TEENS

Pregnant teenagers face many challenges, among them finishing their education. The Vermont House just passed a bill, H.812, that takes away some of those educational options. 

Rep. Joyce Errecart (R-Shelburne) tried to spearhead an amendment to the bill that would have allowed for more options, but the effort was defeated.

Prior to H.812, education statutes allowed pregnant teens to attend any “approved public school in Vermont or an adjacent state, or other educational program approved by the state board.”  This left the door open for pregnant teens to choose schools (programs) outside their districts, including approved independent schools.

H.812, however, limits attendance to only those choices available to other students in the “pregnant or parenting pupil’s district of residence.” While it includes teen centers in the options now available, it removes a huge variety of other alternatives. Unless the pregnant teen lives in a tuition town, for example, approved independent schools are no longer available to her.

Rep. Errecart’s amendment would have given the students  the ability to transfer to a public school outside their district or to attend an approved independent school or program, with money following the student. 

Unfortunately, the majority of legislators voting on H.812 in the House preferred pregnant teens not to have this choice and voted down Rep. Errecart’s simple but powerful amendment. Her initiative, however, has opened the door to further discussion of school choice, particularly how it can serve special populations in need of more options. 

The roll call vote on Rep. Errecart’s amendment was as follows:

AN ELEGANT SOLUTION:  KEEP THE SBOE AND LET GOVERNOR APPOINT THE COMMISSIONER

The legislature has still not approved a shift to having the governor appoint the Commissioner of Education, and at this stage, the initiative might languish even with strong support in the Senate. 

Strong opposition surfaced to one component of the Senate’s plan – abolishing the State Board of Education. Currently, the SBOE “hires” the Commissioner of Education and through him or her runs the department of education. 

The State Board of Education consists of nine voting members and one non-voting member (a high school student), all appointed by the governor for six-year overlapping terms. This means that sometimes a newly-elected governor is dealing with a board whose majority he or she did not appoint. 

For example, when Governor James Douglas took office five years ago, he was working with an SBOE appointed by former Governor Howard Dean. Douglas, a Republican, holds different educational views from Dean, a Democrat. But Douglas’s ability to influence education through the SBOE was limited until terms began expiring and he was able to appoint members more in tune with his own approach.

Similarly, if a Democrat were elected governor now, he or she would be dealing with a State Board of Education whose outlook probably overlaps that of Republican Governor James Douglas. 

When Howard Dean was governor, he attempted to change this situation by proposing legislation similar to what is being considered now. But the legislature blocked the initiative at the time, with most Republicans opposing it.

A Democratic legislature is in control now, which makes the current initiative surprising.

Here’s an elegant solution to what to do with the SBOE should the governor be allowed to appoint the Commissioner of Education: keep the SBOE with the Commissioner as chair.  The six-year terms of the SBOE members would ensure that power shifts at the top of state government would be balanced by continuity at the SBOE level. The SBOE could advise the Commissioner and provide a useful link to “average” Vermonters.  While the SBOE would no longer have control over hiring the Commissioner of Education, its members would be able to help guide, counsel and provide citizen input to this important staff member.

NEA: TELL CONGRESS NO MORE VOUCHERS

The National Education Association, the country’s largest teacher’s union, is advocating that its members call congress to send the clear message: don’t let parents take charge of their kids’ education.

The NEA sent an email several weeks ago urging members to tell Congress “No more voucher programs.”  This is because the president’s 2009 budget contains money to:

• Create a $300 million national voucher program, “Pell Grants for Kids.”  (The NEA calls this a “misleading” name.)
• Convert a successful community grant program to an individual voucher program called “21st Century Opportunity Scholarships.” 
• Extend the District of Columbia “Opportunity Scholarship Program” scheduled to end this September.  (The NEA calls this program “expensive” and “unproven,” but DC parents would probably disagree.)

• Senator Bernie Sanders Contact Page: http://sanders.senate.gov/comments/
• Senator Patrick Leahy: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
• Rep. Peter Welch Contact Page: http://www.house.gov/formwelch/issue_subscribe.htm

MISSISQUOI’S 100K MANDATE

Will spending nearly $100,000 a year on a new director of school improvement turn things around at Missisquoi Valley Union High School?  The Commissioner and State Board of Education think so.  In late February, MVUHS officials signed an agreement with Education Commissioner Richard Cate that directs the school to take several steps in order to improve consistently low student performance. Among the stipulations: hire a director of school improvement, a licensed educator with documented experience turning low-performing schools around, with an annual salary of $95,000.

The agreement means MVUHS gets to retain control over the school and its improvement process, which they were in danger of having to cede to the State Board of Education because of continual poor performance.

Fewer than 30 percent of MVUHS’s students have met state standards in gateway subjects such as math and reading for several years. 

The new director will have the authority to evaluate teachers, place recommendations in their files, recommend to the superintendent whether teacher contracts should be renewed, consult with the local school board on teacher reassignments and curriculum changes and more. 

The full agreement can be found here

The following is a letter to the editor of the St. Albans Messenger from the president of the Ethan Allen Institute:

Editor, Daily Messenger:

Missisquoi Union High School is in trouble, and the Commissioner of Education has allocated $95,000 to employ a "school improvement officer" with a $30,000 budget to boost standardized test scores. 

The message here is that Missisquoi can’t go on doing things the same old way. The danger is that the state will fritter away the funds on a credentialed educational bureaucrat who will offer only comfortable and cosmetic changes (costing more money). The opportunity here is to transplant what works to Missisquoi,

Okaloosa County in West Florida has been a national success story. Its elected superintendent was a successful health care entrepreneur. He slashed bureaucracy, gave budget control to principals, raised standards, abolished social promotions, gave incentives to teachers, created performance contracts with parents, and motivated high schoolers with innovative pathways to post secondary careers. The district spends $1200 per pupil less than the state average, and pays teachers more than 62 of the state’s 67 districts.

Add to that proven phonics-based reading instruction and Saxon math in the elementary schools, and parental choice to generate competition for students, and the district would have a recipe for success for our schools and our children.

Of course many teachers (and their union) may object to such radical departures. Replace them and hire enthusiastic new ones.

Missisquoi, like Okaloosa, could become a beacon of achievement - but only if local leadership is determined to seize the opportunity to really do things differently, and parents and students cheer them on.

                                                                        John McClaughry, President
                                                                        Ethan Allen Institute, Concord VT

HOW DID YOU CHOOSE A SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD?

Vermonters for Better Education is putting together a booklet on “How to Choose a School in Vermont.”  The editors would love to hear from Vermont parents who’ve been through the school selection process. What worked for you? What questions did you find most useful to ask? What observations did you find most helpful?  How would you advise other Vermont parents of school age children?

Send your thoughts to us at vbe@comcast.net

WORTH REPEATING: IS YOUR SMALL SCHOOL AFRAID OF CONSOLIDATION?

Vermonters for Better Education compiled a booklet, “How To Privatize a Public School in Vermont: A Layman’s Guide.”  This booklet, put together several years ago, includes specific references to Vermont statutes, a step-by-step guide, and the story of Winhall, which privatized its public school in 1998. 

The booklet is available for free download here
 

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VERMONTERS FOR BETTER EDUCATION is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to enlist parents and the public at large in achieving quality educational opportunities for all the children of Vermont by monitoring the state of education in Vermont; promoting the value of educational freedoms for all parents; and giving parents the evaluative tools with which to identify excellence.

Retta Dunlap, executive director
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