Miscellaneous Education Changes (H.461) - April 18, 2023
The Senate Education Committee reviewed H.461 on Tuesday with Legislative Counsel, specifically looking at the new language surrounding harassment.
Legislative Counsel reviewed the definition of bullying used in statute versus the new draft language. The statute currently requires proof that discriminatory behavior meets the “severe or pervasive standard,” while the new draft just requires proof that someone has been subject to discriminatory harassment.
Read moreIndependent Schools Bill (H.483) - April 13, 2023
On Thursday, Sue Ceglowski (Executive Director, Vermont School Boards Association) spoke to the House Education Committee. She noted that she was testifying on behalf of the Education Equity Alliance, which consists of Vermont School Boards Association, Vermont NEA, Vermont Superintendents Association, and Vermont Principles Association. She claimed “Vermont is at a crossroads” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s new rules for states’ funding private schools. This puts Vermont in a difficult position as it seeks to comply with the Court's ruling, she noted, while “still upholding its own constitutional protections, democratic values and traditions.”
Read moreIndependent Schools Bill (H.483) - April 12, 2023
On Wednesday, Chairman Campion asked Legislative Counsel to share, with the Senate Education Committee, background on Act 49 and Act 173 and how they relate to independent schools. Act 49 was passed in 2017 and created a task force on independent schools. The task force was split and could not find a consensus; instead of offering a comprehensive report, each member issued their own recommendations around enrollment policy, if schools should be required to deliver special education and which categories should be required, and special education required reporting. The legislation also paused rulemaking until the legislature could act on these issues.
Read moreMiscellaneous Education Changes (H.461) - April 11, 2023
On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee walked through a side-by-side comparison of H.461 with current statute. Senator Gulick asked about the “Home Study Program,” wondering if it was always called that. She commented that she doesn’t “see there is any mandate to actually study any subjects in it.” Legislative Counsel was uncertain if it had been called something else previously.
Read moreMiscellaneous Education Changes (H.461) - April 7, 2023
The Senate Education Committee resumed their work on H.461 on Friday, with Representative Hango joining the Committee to speak about the National Guard tuition benefit expansion.[1]
Read moreIndependent Schools Bill (H.483) - April 7, 2023
Chairman Campion asked Legislative Counsel to walk the Senate Education Committee through H.483 on Friday at a high level. During the walk-through, Senator Hashim questioned why therapeutic schools were excluded from the bill. Legislative counsel noted that those schools were highly specialized and may not be able to meet the requirements in the bill. The intent of this bill is to address general education independent schools who receive public tuition.
Read moreMiscellaneous Education Changes (H.461) - April 6, 2023
The Senate Education Committee returned to H.461 on Thursday, hearing from Ken Gragg (Deputy Adjutant General, Vermont Military Department) on the college tuition benefit program section of the bill. This provision would allow for funds to be used outside of the state when a class or program is unavailable in Vermont. Specifically, he mentioned the Physician’s Assistant pipeline as a program that has created a bottleneck. The National Guard would benefit from the expertise offered by these positions but there are no programs in-state.
Read moreMiscellaneous Education Changes (H.461) - April 5, 2023
The Senate Education Committee met on Wednesday to review H.461, which makes a number of changes to education laws.
Read moreVitale v. Vermont
The House and Senate Education Committees met jointly on Tuesday for a presentation from Legislative Counsel on the Vitale v. Vermont Supreme court case. Chairman Campion introduced the topic by noting that the decision came out in March and because the Senate Education Committee is likely to take up the independent schools’ bill soon, he thought it was prudent to get a briefing on this case.
Read moreMiscellaneous Changes in Education Laws (H.461) - March 31, 2023
On Friday afternoon, Representative Conlon (Chair, House Education Committee) provided the Senate Education Committee with an overview of their committee bill, H.461.
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