The League of Women Voters of Vermont believes in public education. The changes being produced by Act 60 are meant to improve public education, to enable public education to respond to student individual needs and to bring about improved teacher education and readiness.
The League of Women Voters of Vermont believes attempts to use public education monies for vouchers or charter schools are unwarranted. Vouchers, particularly when including private schools, take funds out of the system and will produce a segmenting of the student body, the failure of some schools and the monetary enhancement of religious and private schools at the expense of public schools. Charter schools have not been proven to be a secure answer to public education problems and have proven more costly in many instances as well as presenting accountability concerns.
The League of Women Voters of Vermont prefers to give Act 60 and the Vermont Department of Education more time to see how the changes brought by those two entities will strengthen and improve the public schools. The use of alternative high schools for some students; the inter-district cooperatives that have been developed; the focus of individual high schools in a particular scholastic area, as well as the push to bring about positive changes in teacher training, all point to an advance for Vermont schools. These must be given a chance to work.
Singularly, the transportation problems that arise with cooperative education methods will have to be addressed. Private transportation is not the answer. It simply means those students who have parents to drive will reap the benefits and those students who do not will be denied equal access.
It is the consensus of the League of Women Voters of Vermont that vouchers and charter schools are not options for the Vermont public school system. Public education is for the general good of society.
(The above consensus was reached by concurrence with the position adopted by the Champlain Valley LWV in August 2001.)
The League of Women Voters of Vermont believes in public education. The changes being produced by Act 60 are meant to improve public education, to enable public education to respond to student individual needs and to bring about improved teacher education and readiness.
The League of Women Voters of Vermont believes attempts to use public education monies for vouchers or charter schools are unwarranted. Vouchers, particularly when including private schools, take funds out of the system and will produce a segmenting of the student body, the failure of some schools and the monetary enhancement of religious and private schools at the expense of public schools. Charter schools have not been proven to be a secure answer to public education problems and have proven more costly in many instances as well as presenting accountability concerns.
The League of Women Voters of Vermont prefers to give Act 60 and the Vermont Department of Education more time to see how the changes brought by those two entities will strengthen and improve the public schools. The use of alternative high schools for some students; the inter-district cooperatives that have been developed; the focus of individual high schools in a particular scholastic area, as well as the push to bring about positive changes in teacher training, all point to an advance for Vermont schools. These must be given a chance to work.
Singularly, the transportation problems that arise with cooperative education methods will have to be addressed. Private transportation is not the answer. It simply means those students who have parents to drive will reap the benefits and those students who do not will be denied equal access.
It is the consensus of the League of Women Voters of Vermont that vouchers and charter schools are not options for the Vermont public school system. Public education is for the general good of society.
(The above consensus was reached by concurrence with the position adopted by the Champlain Valley LWV in August 2001.)