Education advocates press Vermont panel to hold independent schools to same standards as public schools

Representatives of Friends of Vermont Public Education told the House Education Committee on March 26 that independent and therapeutic schools receiving public tuition should meet the same licensing, reporting and accountability standards as public schools and urged the committee to address a backlog in independent school renewals.

Neil O’Dell, a board member of Friends of Vermont Public Education, and Krista Huling, a current classroom teacher and former chair of the State Board of Education, testified that the current oversight regime allows independently operated schools that receive public funds to operate under different standards than public schools.

“Vermonters work hard for their money, and they deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” Neil O’Dell said, arguing for transparency and consistent standards for any school receiving public funds. O’Dell described Friends of Vermont Public Education as a nonprofit led by long‑time school leaders and former state education officials and said the state spends “over $2,000,000,000 annually” on education.

Krista Huling described the licensing and renewal differences between public and approved independent schools. “I have to do 90 hours of new learning,” she said of teacher renewal requirements; she described the licensing process as including background checks, student‑teaching portfolios and roughly $700 in fees. She said those requirements do not apply in the same way for all teachers at approved independent schools that receive public funds.

Huling also told the committee the Agency of Education (AOE) has failed to complete timely renewal reviews for independent schools: “Currently, 59 schools are past their renewal deadline, with some due for renewal as far back as 2020,” she said. Huling said 18 of those schools are therapeutic programs that serve vulnerable students and that the AOE has indicated it will not review therapeutic schools in the current renewal submission plan; she warned that lack of timely review reduces oversight of settings that often serve students at higher cost and higher need.

When Rep. Kate McCann asked how oversight works when concerns arise, Huling said formal mechanisms are limited and that some matters — including allegations of abuse at certain schools — fall outside the specific rule series governing approvals. She cited past concerns around the Vermont School for Girls as an example of a case where existing approval rules did not fully address reported problems.

Friends of Vermont Public Education urged the committee to require consistent standards for schools receiving public funds (licensed staff, open enrollment, financial transparency, curricular standards and reporting) and to direct the AOE to clear the backlog so the State Board of Education can perform timely renewals.

Chair Rep. Eric Conlon acknowledged the backlog and said the committee will take a closer look at the issue and state board capacity; no formal action occurred during the recorded testimony.