Vermont School Boards Association urges funding predictability, changes to health‑benefits bargaining and restored school construction aid

Montpelier — Sue Cyglowski, executive director and general counsel for the Vermont School Boards Association, outlined the VSBA’s legislative priorities to the Senate Education Committee on Jan. 29, 2024, urging the legislature to address education cost drivers and to provide predictability for local budgets.

“We believe public education is a fundamental right. It’s the foundation for democracy, the core of strong communities, and a driver of economic development,” Cyglowski told the committee, reading from the VSBA’s “Who We Are” materials.

Cyglowski listed six funding priorities VSBA wants legislators to follow when considering changes to the education finance system: provide sufficient funds to support equitable, sustainable, high‑quality education; ensure predictability in the budget process; allow adequate time for districts to adjust to changes; provide modeling and data on long‑term impacts; strengthen accountability for public funds that go to private entities; and include measures addressing cost drivers.

On cost drivers, VSBA urged revising the statewide health‑care bargaining process for public school employees, saying recent arbitration awards produced materially richer benefits and that the next statewide bargaining round is scheduled to start in April 2026. Cyglowski told the committee that the association has recommendations addressing employee health benefits and said she would supply written proposals to the committee.

VSBA also pressed for renewed, predictable state school construction aid, noting a moratorium on state construction aid since 2008 and citing an aging statewide school building stock (she said the average school age is 61 years). Cyglowski said the absence of stable construction aid has created a backlog of projects and higher maintenance costs for districts.

Another priority Cyglowski emphasized was funding and support for student mental‑health services so districts are not left to absorb rising costs. She also called for clear limits on the use of the education fund for statewide programs that can increase local property tax burdens and for adequate funding to implement existing laws and regulations.

On governance and accountability, Cyglowski summarized a VSBA task force report the association submitted to state leaders in September 2024. The task force recommended improved Agency of Education capacity, a comprehensive public data dashboard for pre‑K–12 outcomes and better transparency about implementation status for statutes such as Act 77 (2013) and Act 173 (2018). Cyglowski offered to provide the committee with the full task force report and additional contacts for follow‑up testimony.

Committee members asked whether the VSBA had concrete proposals on bargaining changes; Cyglowski said the association has proposals and will share them for posting. On data, she described the dashboard as longitudinal, pre‑K–12 outcome data and spending and delivery metrics that enable easy comparison across districts and independent schools that receive public funds.

No committee votes or formal directives were recorded during the session; Cyglowski closed by inviting committee members to consult with local school boards as the legislative process continues.