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HOUSE PASSES H.454, THE VERMONT HOUSE’S EDUCATION REFORM BILL
MONTPELIER, VT - Today, the Vermont House of Representatives passed H.454, the House’s comprehensive education reform bill. The legislation, which received tri-partisan support, marks a major step toward building a more equitable and student-centered public education system and a more stable, resilient financing system.
“I voted yes because the status quo is unacceptable for our kids, teachers, and communities,” said Speaker of the Vermont House, Rep. Jill Krowinski. “I know change is hard, but we must lead and create stability in our public education system. This is our moment. Let’s show every kid in our state, no matter where they live, they will have the best education at a price we can afford.”
“This bill stabilizes and lowers property taxes, bends the cost curve, and creates safe, consistent, quality education for all Vermont kids for a generation,” said Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. “We can’t manage this in bits and pieces– we have tried to do that before. This bill rips off the bandages, duct tape, and bailing twine that have held our education and property tax system together over the last decade and builds a careful net to sustain our children and communities into the future. But we need that hope and careful vision for the future, change is inevitable, instability in the wider world is likely, and details matter – we don’t want to just fix problems, we want to set a direction forward for our kids and communities. This bill does just that.”
“H.454 addresses our challenges and builds for a more stable future by moving us toward scale, creating statewide cohesion and support for our system,” said Rep. Peter Conlon, Chair of the House Committee on Education. “And we do it with a stable and predictable funding system that allows our educational leaders to focus on education quality rather than on tax rates, budget cutting and common levels of appraisal. This is a positive step forward for our kids, educators, and taxpayers.”
H.454, shaped by years of input and collaboration, includes major policy reforms to education finance, governance, and infrastructure. Key components of the bill include:
- Moving to a foundation funding model which gives school districts funding based on the cost to educate a student
- Launching a statewide planning process to update and consolidate school district boundaries
- Establishing statewide class size minimums, shared calendars, data systems, and shared resources between schools
- Creating clearer rules for the use of public tuition dollars
- Planning for long-term school construction investments and projects
- Strengthening the State Board of Education to ensure transparent, accountable oversight with public input
The bill will now be considered by the Senate.
For more information on H.454, please visit the legislative website.
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