State education officials outline $13,200 foundation proposal and 5‑district governance plan; lawmakers press questions on costs and implementation

Secretary of Education Zoe Saunders and consultants from APA Consulting appeared before a Vermont Senate committee Thursday to outline the administration’s proposed education funding formula, a multi-part plan the presenters said is designed to guarantee a consistent base of resources statewide while targeting extra funding for student need.

"The base per pupil is $13,200," Justin Silverstein of APA Consulting said during the presentation, describing the adjusted evidence‑based model used to estimate a statewide foundation amount. Under the proposal, the base would be supplemented by weighted adjustments for economically disadvantaged students (weight 0.75), English-language learners (weight 1.5), career and technical education (weight 1.3 plus an on‑behalf payment to CTE regional centers), and school- and district-level circumstances such as size and geographic sparsity.

Why it matters: The plan would represent a substantial reworking of how K–12 education is financed in Vermont, moving many current local funding lines into a statewide foundation formula and changing governance assumptions (the administration’s model assumes a five‑district configuration). The proposal is intended to be implemented in multiple years, with presenters saying FY2028 as a target year for the new funding architecture to be in effect.

What the plan includes

- Base and staffing assumptions: The $13,200 base is built from an adjusted evidence‑based (EB) model that assumes nationally recognized staff mixes and student supports — for example, lower K–3 class sizes…