Vermont finance committee hears educators' concerns about H.454 foundation formula, class size and health-care costs

Lawmakers heard multiple witnesses urge caution as they consider H.454, the House‑passed education finance bill that would replace the current system with a foundation formula (called in testimony an “educational opportunity payment”) and set new class‑size and school‑size standards.

“My comments for this committee are around education spending and education finance,” Jay Nichols, executive director of the Vermont Principals Association and an appointee to the commission for the future of public education, told the committee. “My comments are related directly to H.454, as it was passed in the House.” Nichols said foundation formulas typically do not cut spending in the short term and that most states begin a foundation formula at current spending levels and “infuse cash into the system to help with the transition.”

The concerns fell into three broad areas: short‑term fiscal impacts, the design of class‑size and school‑size rules, and the effect of rising employee health‑care costs on districts’ budgets.

Jeff Bannon, executive director of Vermont NEA, praised Vermont’s public schools and educators while warning that “shaking the system snow globe even more after surviving the pandemic, including the loss of federal pandemic recovery funds and the new student weights…