Representatives of a new umbrella group concerned about public spending at religious schools gather at the State House Friday.
By Guy Page
A new umbrella advocacy group comprised of four organizations of Vermont public school educators often at loggerheads was in the State House on Friday, speaking as one for ‘equity and accountability’ in any legislation responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring tuitioning towns to provide payments to religious private schools.
The Education Equity Alliance represents the Vermont NEA, the Vermont Principals’ Association, the Vermont Superintendents Association, and the Vermont School Boards Association. The decision for these groups — often at odds over school funding and decision-making legislation — to work together is “monumental,” one spokesperson said.
The Carson V. Makin decision last June has turned traditional opponents into allies on the issue of ‘equity and accountability’ in school funding.
“When it comes to Vermont’s private-school voucher system, there is no status quo,” a statement handed to VDC by VT-NEA spokesperson Jeff Fannon said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has put education funding at a crossroads.”
The status quo was that private religious schools were prohibited from receiving public tuition funding allocated to other private schools. For example, before Carson V. Makin, St. Johnsbury Academy could receive tuition payments; Rice Memorial High School could not.
As reported by Lifesitenews, the Vermont Supreme Court decided Nov. 30 to enforce a settlement based on Carson V. Makin, which ruled that “a state-run program for tuition aid in Maine could not bar “sectarian” schools — religiously affiliated schools — from taking part” in the State of Vermont’s town tuitioning program.
Fannon and other EEA representatives in the State House today say it’s too early to comment on any of several proposed legislative responses. Some legislation under discussion (nothing has been introduced yet) would ban public tuition for all private schools, secular and religious, rather than allow funding to go to religious schools unwilling to hire LGBTQ employees or advance pro-LGBTQ policies.
EEA supports legislation that 1) accommodates the U.S. Supreme Court decision and 2) “ensuring equity and accountability must go hand-in-hand with guaranteeing that public taxpayer dollars will not fund discrimination of any kind against students and educators.”
Guy Page is publisher of the Vermont Daily Chronicle. Reprinted with permission.
Pay attention to the groups left out of the “Education Equity Alliance.” Namely students and parents, which should be the two most important groups. The goal is control over how the minds of students are shaped and that is the main interest. The secondary interest is to for them to own as much state dollars as possible.
The fix in education will never be done by the Vermont legislature. If you want a better system in Vermont, then create it outside of state dollars and make an education model that is not built on lies and fear. If done well enough, in time the public system will be obsolete and your property education tax will be zero. While this may seem impossible, it is far more possible than the dream that the state will somehow come to the rescue. If you want control of education, you have to pay for it, just like anything else.
There are tons of options and I would be happy to point anyone to those that come from a Christian Biblical perspective – the only worldview I know of that rejects the caste mentality. The best I have seen recreated the curriculum and methodology that helped form the type of people who framed this great nation.
If the energy that has been put talking about this mess and efforts trying to improve the oppressive public option had been put towards a free-market option, Vermont would be leading our nation in liberty minded people.
“…Supreme Court decision requiring tuitioning towns to provide payments to religious private schools..” – So why not grant vouchers to parents, vouchers that can be spent for educating the child specified and for nothing else? The parent then decides what institution best serves the interests of their offspring (which do NOT belong to the state) and relieves the state of any potential “discrimination” burden. It also motivates the schools to teach the subjects the parents want and forego teaching an ideology alien to the parents. Get back to teaching analytic logic, teaching students to think and to accurately express their thoughts – concepts anathema to Progressives.
Hey, I just spotted this news today. A Federal Court gave FLA Gov. Desantis a big win…seems Desantis put in place a a law, the STOP WIOKE ACT…to halt all kinds of woke, CRT and things like BLM being forced taught on FLA college campuses etc….judge upheld it. THAT is what VT needs….someone to put in a STOP WOKE ACT 🙂
“A federal judge ruled that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did not violate a court order regarding the state’s “Stop WOKE Act,” which prohibits colleges from promoting critical race theory lessons and targets other “woke” concepts prevalent on higher education campuses. ”
Except… VT is so “propagandized” to force feed their Progressive agenda…it goes from K thru College in VT.
In 1966, Harry Harrison wrote a novel, ‘Make Room! Make Room!’ In 1973 the Stanley Greenberg screenplay, ‘Soylent Green’, was released. The futuristic dystopian plot takes place, curiously, in 2022, a time in which “The poor live in squalor, haul water from communal spigots, and eat highly processed wafers: Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow, and the latest product, far more flavorful and nutritious, Soylent Green.”
I’m sure you all get the gist of my analogy: Soylent Green – The Green New Deal.
But the projection is nonetheless intriguing, if not foreboding. We live and reproduce at the behest of the ‘Administrative State’, no longer controlling our own lives or the lives of our children, ceding all authority to “a compelling State interest’.
Those who disagree are enemies of the State, domestic terrorists, and conspiracy theorists. Their mere existence is a threat to civilization, whatever the Administrative State deems that to be. We exist to feed the monster, be it the public education monopoly, the healthcare establishment and ‘big pharma’, the social services cartels, government workers, and the so-called ‘elected’ officials managing our affairs.
Take heed: The ending to this epic tale is, as yet, unwritten.
It should be a no brainer. The Supreme Court has ruled on it.. The VT courts, teachers, their Union NEA and every marxist, profressive non profit group – can’t change it. THEY fought against “school choice” so they can protect Union power (greed)….and second, to advance, control & indoctrinate the agenga. So what do you want. what is best for your child. ,,,,or:
You have two choices (basically)…you can send them to the VT Public schools and get the NEA Union approved Progressive agenda “taught” (in essence THEY are a Religion too) and Climate Change is the bedrock of the Dem/Progressive religion….so Public schoold force feed, “educate” Climate Change, Global Warming, Gender, Race, Sex, BLM, CRT, Enviro, Fossil Fuel hatred, Trannies, GMO’s, Organic Foods only, Fertilzers bad, Equity for all, Class Envy, Class Warfare, hate the rich, only electric vehicles allowed……..you name it..THEY ARE A RELIGIOUS!!!!!.
The supposed other “religious” schools I knew of… teach reading, writing, arithmatic, history, science. english…and maybe nowadays some computer skills.
So which or the two above do you wish your child in?
Some might say a bit cultish……Christianity doesn’t just benefit the person, but the entire society; a cult benefits the cult leader…..whether your name is Karl Marx or Jim Jones or
NEA
Power, money and sex vs reading writing and arithmetic.
Which one do you think the public would choose, if they had a choice?
Add in what one learns with a Judeo-Christian background, who’s fruit is love, joy, peace, truth and forgiveness, it’s pretty,easy to see what an informed parent would do.
Read in vt digger today about how schools are canceling games because one, one member said something racist. Why is everyone getting punished for one persons speech? Why are we promoting cancel culture over love and forgiveness?
We are all terribly flawed, when we think otherwise we fall prey to pride, which is any person or countries down fall. If we learned about these things we’d know who’s foot steps we are following, but because we are uneducated we don’t know the trap we are headed for.
Which one do you think the public would choose, if they had a choice?
While I would choose the later – reading, writing and arithmatic – I’m no longer certain what ‘the public’ would choose.
As Ben Franklin opined – “I… believe farther that this [constitution] is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other.”
…arithmetic… that is.
And make no mistake, The Education Equity Alliance, representing the Vermont NEA, the Vermont Principals’ Association, the Vermont Superintendents Association, and the Vermont School Boards Association, is as despotic a group of people as has ever been assembled here in Vermont.
How is that somebody’s sex life determines their qualifications for any job? What does that have to do with work?
VERMONT has two monopolies trying to protect themselves from being removed from the golden teet of the VERMONT tax payer. This is a perfect example of how crony capitalism and its first brother socialism work.
Notice what they are not saying? We have the best bang for the buck!
Our kids are doing better than in any other schools.
We welcome the competition because we’ll eat their lunch!
Nope, it’s all about power, control and SEX!
We are what our minds take in. Indoctrination is an appetizer for everything you order on this menu, NO substitutions.
They are terrified and rightfully so, the students and the taxpayer are getting fleeced.