To the conference committee working on H.454....

Dear H454 Committee of ConferenceMembers,

I am reaching out to the Committee today to raise serious concerns regarding a rollback of requirements for approved independent schools to be eligible to receive public tuition.

The Senate proposal does not meet the Governor's objectives, nor does it benefit our public education students or systems. 

As you are aware, the Governor's proposal set many requirements for independent schools regarding their eligibility for public tuition for students grade 9-12, and their accountability. Among those, was the requirement that "the school’s enrollment is at least 51 percent comprised of students attending on a district-funded tuition basis as of July 1, 2025." 

This level would indicate a truly integral public-private partnership.

Also as you are aware, the House proposal dropped the percentage to 40%, and accommodated the Senate's request to use the 2023-2024 school year.

Finally, the Senate proposal to drop to "at least 25 percent of its Vermont resident student enrollment...", does not in any way suggest that those independent schools are integral to our Vermont public education system. 

Furthermore, the Governor's foundation formula proposal and the House foundation formula proposal found no empirical evidence to assign a weight for high school students. Among other considerations, the fact that class sizes can be larger in high school, it makes sense that high schools should be able to operate more efficiently even while they offer broader class choices. And the House proposal calls for a study of this high school weighting factor in the coming year. If the evidence should bear out differently in the Vermont context, I'm sure that will receive due consideration. 

To suggest that independent schools should be allowed to continue to set their own tuition rates, while public schools will be bound by the foundation formula is ABSURD! If independent schools are not able to operate on the funding that is allocated to them, then perhaps they do not have the financial capacity to be an approved independent school. Independent schools have many methods to ensure their financial stability, and should have to operate within their means, if they wish to serve publicly tuitioned students.

The Senate proposal does not meet the Governor's objectives, nor does it benefit our public education students or systems. Any education transformation must benefit all Vermont students, and thoughtful work must be driven by the shared goals of education quality, equity, efficiency and sustainability, not private interests!

Thank you for your continued work on these shared goals.

Best,

Kim Gleason

Former State Board of Education Member (2019-2025)

Board Member, Friends of Vermont Public Education

Board Member, Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network