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Rural Vermonters Tell Senate Education Committee: Don’t Let Funding Changes Punish Small Schools
Summary
At a Canaan listening stop, the Senate Education Committee heard residents warn that the foundation formula and forced mergers proposed under Act 73 could erode small‑town programs, urging more technical assistance, targeted aid and support for career and technical education.
The Vermont Senate Education Committee visited Canaan on its listening tour to hear local concerns about Act 73, the proposed foundation funding formula and governance changes that residents say threaten small, rural schools.
Sen. Keisha Rockingham-Sale, a member of the Senate Education Committee, opened the session by praising students’ presentations and asking the community for frank feedback about what should be preserved in any funding or governance reforms. "You have something really beautiful here, and we certainly don't wanna harm that," she said as committee members invited public comment.
Why it matters: Residents and local board members told the committee that cuts to career and technical education (CTE) programs, sports and other extracurriculars often do not return once removed, triggering a ‘‘snowball’’ decline in enrollment and local revenue that hits sparsely populated towns especially…
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