Dan MacArthur and Douglas Korb

Task force on weighting formula is long overdue

For 25 years, rural schools, impoverished students, and students with English-language-learning needs have been given short shrift, if not completely neglected

The Legislature has recently passed S.13 establishing a task force to study and implement updates to weighting factors in Vermont's education funding formula.

The task force will use a study commissioned by the Vermont Legislature and completed by Professor Kolbe from the University of Vermont. The study contains some very specific recommendations for how to address the issue of inequity, which will serve as the basis for the group's work.

It is important to note that the recommendations of the study do not add any funding from either state or local sources; they simply reallocate the same pot of money so that local tax rates become more equitable.

It is generally accepted that some local taxpayers in Vermont pay more than others to educate the children in their community - few people dispute this.

Read More