(Host) Blue lawn signs with the words I vote school choice are springing up around the state. They signal a new development in an old campaign: people worried that the school choice they now enjoy will end if the state’s plan to merge districts goes forward.
VPR’s Susan Keese has the story.
(Keese) In Winhall, at the foot of Stratton Mountain, the school-choice signs are often in the company of Oliver Olsen’s campaign signs.
Olsen, an incumbent Republican state representive, says school choice has taken on new urgency in this election.
(Olsen) "We’re actually talking about preserving and protecting the existing school choice options that we already have in many communities throughout Vermont, particularly in the district I represent, where four out of five towns do have some form of school choice."
(Keese) Two of the towns in Olsen’s district, Winhall and Stratton, have no public schools at all. Another two have no public high school.
The towns use a voucher system. Students get the equivalent of a year’s tuition at an average public school. It’s up to them and their families to choose the school that best suits their needs.
Olsen says in his area most families choose Burr and Burton Academy. It’s one of Vermont’s independent academies that have been serving local towns on a tuition basis almost since the state was settled.
(Olsen) "But there are also parents who choose to send their students to other approved independent schools in their community, most notably the Long Trail School in Dorset."
Olsen says other independent schools have blossomed in his area in response to the availability of tuition vouchers.
About 90 towns in Vermont have voucher systems. But Olsen says the state’s push to consolidate school districts and merge smaller schools could limit that freedom.
State Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca doesn’t dispute that.
(Vilaseca) "I think that is a legitimate concern for those folks who currently enjoy school choice. Here you have 90 communities that do have school choice and 160-170 communities that do not. So I think that’s a huge obstacle for us moving forward."
(Keese) Vilaseca has been working with the legislature on a plan to curb school spending by reducing the number of school districts in the state from 278 to 45. He’s wants to spread the state’s resources more efficiently, rather than dividing them up more.
Last year the state Legislature passed a voluntary consolidation law that doesn’t provide for school voucher systems. The law also calls for a study of how vouchers affect the state’s education system.
The consolidation issue was a red flag for Angelique Lee of Pittsfield – a voucher town where students go to nine different schools.
Lee has co-founded a website and political action committee called ‘I vote school choice-dot-org.’ She says hundreds of parents are involved.
The group is asking all House and Senate candidates to study the issue and make their opinions known before the election.
For VPR News, I’m Susan Keese in Manchester.