Editorial: Calm, not chaos, needed when changing Vt’s education system

As Vermont tackles education reform, two visions have emerged: a radical consolidation of the current 52 school districts to 5 large regional districts as proposed by Gov. Scott and Education Secretary Zoie Sanders, or a more cautious step-by-step process outlined by two legislative committees that will be rolled out over the next four years.

On Tuesday this week, the U.S. president said he would never bend from his tariff strategy. “Don’t be weak. Don’t be stupid,” he told his lemming-like faithful on Truth Social. “Instead be strong, courageous and patient,” adding he would never back down.

Expressing an opinion more than a year ago in a student newspaper. That was all it took for the Trump administration to lock up a student who had the full rights to be in this country seeking a graduate degree at a prestigious American university.

A perennial winner of NENPA’s annual better newspaper content, this year represents the most awards the paper has won in any single year — and we were the most honored newspaper of the 96 which entered this year’s competition.

Because if you don’t speak out now, this Republican-led Congress will believe Americans don’t care about the damage Trump is doing to the country and is, in fact, on the right track.

If Gov. Phil Scott is serious about saving money in the state budget, rather than denying a few hundred people shelter for a month or two he’d better start challenging President Trump’s self-serving executive orders.

Before Vermonters label Gov. Scott heartless for denying “children, pregnant women, disabled Vermonters, veterans, and those fleeing domestic violence” from the motel voucher program set to expire on April 1, voters should consider the Governor’s position … (read more)

Forgive the poor Fox News viewer for having a dim view of Democrats. If that’s where you get your news, how could you not?

It’s difficult to grasp how much change Trump has wreaked on America in these past couple of weeks. Even for Americans who read the news carefully, so much happens so quickly that the far-too-common reaction by voters is to tune out the political noise an … (read more)

At Vermont’s Town Meetings last year, voters rejected over 30 school budgets, about one in three, because of budget increases that averaged close to 13%. This year, when the average property tax is expected to rise about 6% or half what it did last year, … (read more)

If you managed to watch President Trump’s address to Congress without blowing a gasket, that either means you fell asleep during the longest, chest-thumping, rambling rampage of narcissism the nation has ever witnessed or, like too many congressional Repu … (read more)

As Town Meeting gets underway as early as this weekend in some Addison County towns, and next Monday and Tuesday for others, most residents will face much lower school taxes than the prior year, and modest increases in their town budgets. The sticker shoc … (read more)

This Town Meeting, Middlebury residents will decide their largest bond vote ever: a $49.5 million makeover of its 25-year-old sewer plant. Built in 2000, the 20-year projected lifespan of the plant is five years past that due date and will be forced to ho … (read more)

The slash-and-burn strategy of the Trump administration’s reduction-in-force actions, and its support by this lemming-like Republican Congress, is as wasteful and destructive as it is idiotic.

As Vermonters begin to understand the debate around reforming Vermont’s educational system, a few priorities should remain front and center: first, change is needed; second, we shouldn’t be in the business of funding charter or religious schools (which wi … (read more)