BROOKLINE-I hope this piece will show people why popular pushback against a hurried, poorly-thought-out educational "reform" bill is so needed. The bill passed with a tripartisan legion racing Gov. Phil Scott to see who can be the lead lemming leaping off the cliff.
For folks in rural districts like mine, the request for years has been to strengthen our schools, to recognize our value, to meet us where we are. Instead, the writing is on the wall that our interests don't matter.
In Rep. Emilie Kornheiser's review, "equitable" apparently means we will lose local control of education and we'll likely gain hour-plus round trips into communities that are not our own.
What we stand to lose, thanks to the votes of Kornheiser, Sen. Wendy Harrison, and Rep. Leslie Goldman, strikes at the heart of what is means to live in Vermont, the very things touted to the world as what make us a unique place: our bucolic nature, our close rural communities, and our community hubs.
Thankfully, we were gifted some pushback in Rep. Michelle Bos-Lun's briefly-mentioned counterpoint. It wasn't even close to the best the Legislature could do, and the repercussions, without an activated public now pushing back on issues where there still is time to, could drain rural communities even more. (Thankfully, she, Sen. Nader Hashim, and Rep. Emily Long voted no.)
Bos-Lun noted it was a "rotten way to end the 2025 session." Somehow, that's an understatement. And a portent of our future.
Chris Webb
Brookline
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