Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott and his Administration today presented a five-year plan that revitalizes our education system by generating nearly $300 million in savings that can be used to provide tax relief, expand educational opportunities like early care & learning, technical education and improving overall quality – without raising tax rates. Further, it reverses deficit growth and stabilizes education tax rates for five years.
This package uses ideas from the Administration, Legislature and education stakeholders, many of which are already moving forward in the State Legislature.
“We all share a goal to provide our kids with the best education possible and have committed tremendous resources to K-12 education. The challenge lies in consistently declining enrollment and an old and inefficient infrastructure, which is diverting investments away from kids and causing taxes to increase at unsustainable rates,” said Scott. “Vermont has great schools and teachers and delivers quality education to our students. But we can do better, and this plan will help us achieve our goals.”
Since his inaugural address, Scott has highlighted Vermont’s shifting demographics, including student enrollments that have declined by nearly 30,000 in the last 20 years, and has put forward a number of proposals to improve efficiency and quality of the system to address this challenge.
For details on the Governor’s plan to improve education quality and affordability while achieving tax rate stabilization, click here. To read the Governor's memo to legislative leadership, click here.