H.727, an act relating to the exploration, formation and organization of union school districts and unified union school districts, passed in the State House of Representatives on March 17, 2022, by a vote of 98-39.
Religious schools in Vermont are receiving public taxpayer funds after the Supreme Court ruled states must not discriminate based on religion, and some schools forced to merge under Act 46 are now choosing to part ways after all.
Fewer than three weeks after voters approved the measure, the Stockbridge selectboard received a petition that triggers another vote on decoupling from the Rochester Stockbridge Unified District (RSUD).
What just happened in Clarendon is a classic confiscation of fundamental authority, but what makes it unique is it became visible with the implementation of Act 46 when structural changes exposed it.
“Brave Little Town” lawn signs in abundance around the area are urging local voters of the Addison Central School District to vote “yes” in letting Ripton School out of the district.
Since the merger, Woolf, a Westford resident of 37 years, has not grown any fonder of the idea. He cites the loss of school choice as the main reason for the district’s economic success, as the towns no longer must pay tuition for students who want to attend other schools.
In the 30th episode of “Travels With Charlie — Vermont Politics in Real Life,” host Charlie Papillo discusses Act 46’s failings with former Newbury School Board Chair Paul Jewett and education insider Marvin Harrison.
The outcome of a Vermont Supreme Court hearing held at Middlebury College on Wednesday will likely decide the fate of Act 46, the state’s controversial school district merger law.
A lawmaker who championed Act 46 now says he’s dismayed the 2015 school merger law is being used to shut down community schools.
Probably the best reform now would be for the Legislature to establish universal parental choice with state-issued portable tuition scholarships, and let the merged districts and independent schools compete to attract pupils and revenue.
Residents of the Orange County towns of Bradford and Newbury are suffering school tax sticker shock because taxes for the newly-created Oxbow United Union School District are much higher than what they had been led to expect.
In the fourth episode of “Travels With Charlie – Vermont Politics in Real Life,” host Charlie Papillo talks Act 46 with Republican state Sen. Corey Parent and David Kelley, an attorney representing school districts jointly appealing the State Board of Education’s merger decisions.