Education panel rejects key part of Gov. Scotts budget plan

The Senate Committee on Education sent a strong negative message Tuesday on the chances of the governor’s education overhaul plan passing this year, recommending towns not postpone voting on their school budgets from March until May as the governor had hoped.

Committee Chair Philip Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, said he took the straw poll to see if his committee, after listening to constituents and limited testimony from the administration, believed it was feasible or desirable to shift school budget votes from Town Meeting Day to May 23, as Gov. Phil Scott called for in his budget address last week.

The vote was unanimous, 6 to 0, with the two Republican members, Sen. Joe Benning, of Caledonia, and Sen. Kevin Mullen, of Rutland, voting no but “with regret.”

Moving the vote on school budgets from March to May was key to Scott’s plan because it depends on communities level funding their school budgets for next year. Many communities have been working on their budgets and were prepared to send them to the printers soon for March voting.

Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2017/01/31/education-panel-rejects-key-part-of-scotts-budget-plan/