Links to external sites for Independence in the News!
March 4, 2013 - Caledonia Record reports on S.91 - a bill about independent schools in Vermont.
New! Gretchen Cotell, ISIS committee member, was interviewed by the Valley Reporter, Waitsfield,
February 21, 2013
WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE 1/15/13 SCHOOL CHOICE AND LOCAL CONTROL!
A Vermont town's plan to close its only public grade school and reopen it as a private academy puts an unusual twist on efforts by parents and residents nationwide to seize more control of educational opportunities.
Moves to overhaul control of public schools have usually sought to improve institutions that are low-performing. But in the case of North Bennington Graded School, parents are satisfied with its academic showing.
Enlarge Image
Richard Beaven for The Wall Street Journal
John Ulrich teaches children at North Bennington Graded School in Vermont. Mr. Ulrich said he is conflicted about changing the school's status.
Instead, their move was launched, in part, to ward off a state push for consolidation that the group fears could have led to the North Bennington, Vt., school being merged with another.
The move to create an independent school, approved by state officials Tuesday, would convert North Bennington Graded School, with about 130 children from preschool through sixth grade, to the private Village School of North Bennington next school year. Under state law allowing public money to be used for private schools in places without a public campus, Village School would still be funded mainly by tax dollars.
But the school would be run by an unelected board and would be free from many constraints on public schools, such as union contracts and some special-education requirements.
The maneuver by North Bennington residents follows efforts by parents in other parts of the country to take greater control of their children's schools. In California, for example, parents in three communities have used the Parent Trigger law to try to force low-performing public schools to convert to charter schools—public schools run by independent groups.
Members of the group that led the privatization drive in North Bennington said independent status would enable new initiatives, such as adding a part-time foreign-language teacher at lower pay than called for in union contracts.
"For children and parents, this means new innovations in classrooms and the ability to provide after-school programs and other special kinds of programs," said Eva Chatterjee-Sutton, a parent and former member of the local school board.
The Vermont State Board of Education approved in a 5-2 vote the creation of the new independent school, following approval by North Bennington residents earlier this month to close the old school and lease the building to the new one. The current North Bennington school board, which has backed conversion, still must formally vote to close the old school.
Martha Allen, president of the Vermont-NEA, the state's teachers union, said privatization runs counter to a tradition of public education for all children, and worries special-education students could be turned away from the independent school. She added that without a contract, teachers could see pay and benefits cut, work hours extended and job security threatened.
Ms. Chatterjee-Sutton said her group, which will run the new school, intends to keep it largely intact, with the same teachers and principal. She said they have no intention to cut pay, but noted that pay for newly hired teachers could be lower. She also said the new school will serve special-education students.
Joyce Scarey, a local resident who had four children at the North Bennington school and helped on an unsuccessful petition to roll back the privatization vote, worries the unelected, independent school board "will shut out the voices of the taxpayers who are paying the bills."
North Bennington Graded School, like many schools in Vermont, has seen its enrollment fall. Principal Thomas Martin said independent status would let the school attract students who live outside the town and charge them tuition. Children who live in the town would also be allowed to transfer to other independent schools, with taxpayers footing the bill.
The state has pushed Vermont's school supervisory unions, which oversee groups of school districts, to merge to cut administrative costs. The state has said the move wouldn't necessarily lead to school closures because, by state law, a school can't be forced to consolidate unless local voters approve it. But some parents in North Bennington worry the state might later aggressively push small schools to merge as a way to save tax dollars.
John Ulrich, a second-grade teacher who has taught at North Bennington for more than 20 years, said he felt conflicted about privatization. He will lose some pension benefits, but he thinks conversion might be the school's only chance of survival.
"This school is the proud focal point of the community and I will do what I have to do to help keep it open," he said.
Write to Stephanie Banchero at [email protected]
A Vermont town's plan to close its only public grade school and reopen it as a private academy puts an unusual twist on efforts by parents and residents nationwide to seize more control of educational opportunities.
Moves to overhaul control of public schools have usually sought to improve institutions that are low-performing. But in the case of North Bennington Graded School, parents are satisfied with its academic showing.
Enlarge Image
Richard Beaven for The Wall Street Journal
John Ulrich teaches children at North Bennington Graded School in Vermont. Mr. Ulrich said he is conflicted about changing the school's status.
Instead, their move was launched, in part, to ward off a state push for consolidation that the group fears could have led to the North Bennington, Vt., school being merged with another.
The move to create an independent school, approved by state officials Tuesday, would convert North Bennington Graded School, with about 130 children from preschool through sixth grade, to the private Village School of North Bennington next school year. Under state law allowing public money to be used for private schools in places without a public campus, Village School would still be funded mainly by tax dollars.
But the school would be run by an unelected board and would be free from many constraints on public schools, such as union contracts and some special-education requirements.
The maneuver by North Bennington residents follows efforts by parents in other parts of the country to take greater control of their children's schools. In California, for example, parents in three communities have used the Parent Trigger law to try to force low-performing public schools to convert to charter schools—public schools run by independent groups.
Members of the group that led the privatization drive in North Bennington said independent status would enable new initiatives, such as adding a part-time foreign-language teacher at lower pay than called for in union contracts.
"For children and parents, this means new innovations in classrooms and the ability to provide after-school programs and other special kinds of programs," said Eva Chatterjee-Sutton, a parent and former member of the local school board.
The Vermont State Board of Education approved in a 5-2 vote the creation of the new independent school, following approval by North Bennington residents earlier this month to close the old school and lease the building to the new one. The current North Bennington school board, which has backed conversion, still must formally vote to close the old school.
Martha Allen, president of the Vermont-NEA, the state's teachers union, said privatization runs counter to a tradition of public education for all children, and worries special-education students could be turned away from the independent school. She added that without a contract, teachers could see pay and benefits cut, work hours extended and job security threatened.
Ms. Chatterjee-Sutton said her group, which will run the new school, intends to keep it largely intact, with the same teachers and principal. She said they have no intention to cut pay, but noted that pay for newly hired teachers could be lower. She also said the new school will serve special-education students.
Joyce Scarey, a local resident who had four children at the North Bennington school and helped on an unsuccessful petition to roll back the privatization vote, worries the unelected, independent school board "will shut out the voices of the taxpayers who are paying the bills."
North Bennington Graded School, like many schools in Vermont, has seen its enrollment fall. Principal Thomas Martin said independent status would let the school attract students who live outside the town and charge them tuition. Children who live in the town would also be allowed to transfer to other independent schools, with taxpayers footing the bill.
The state has pushed Vermont's school supervisory unions, which oversee groups of school districts, to merge to cut administrative costs. The state has said the move wouldn't necessarily lead to school closures because, by state law, a school can't be forced to consolidate unless local voters approve it. But some parents in North Bennington worry the state might later aggressively push small schools to merge as a way to save tax dollars.
John Ulrich, a second-grade teacher who has taught at North Bennington for more than 20 years, said he felt conflicted about privatization. He will lose some pension benefits, but he thinks conversion might be the school's only chance of survival.
"This school is the proud focal point of the community and I will do what I have to do to help keep it open," he said.
Write to Stephanie Banchero at [email protected]