Act 170 advances the next phase of Vermont’s education system transformation by creating regional cooperative educational service areas (CESAs), requiring all districts to participate in structured studies of possible union school district formation, delaying major parts of the State’s broader education finance transition, and commissioning further work on prekindergarten funding, education governance, shared services, district reorganization, education finance, and early childhood access.

The House Education Committee finally advanced their education reform bill after months of discussion. Of course they couldn't resist drawing maps, even if they are "only advisory" in nature. While the bill does not force arranged marriages (school district consolidation), per se, it does require that you attend the dance (merger study committees) and it chooses who your dance partners will be (which other districts you have to discuss mergers with).

In theory you could choose to dance with someone else or not at all, but that will probably be frowned upon. Okay, enough with that analogy... let's talk about what happened this week...

Act 152 makes technical, transitional, and policy changes to Vermont’s land use and regional planning laws to recalibrate implementation of Act 181. In the House proposal of amendment, the bill repeals Act 181’s road-jurisdiction and Tier 3 jurisdiction provisions, delays certain related implementation dates, extends several housing-related exemptions through 2028, and clarifies how Tier 1A and Tier 1B review will work under the new land use planning framework. It also makes changes to regional planning procedures, creates new reporting and oversight requirements, and adds a public engagement process on working lands and natural resource protections.

A bottleneck of bills hit the floor in both chambers this week. The House and Senate floors were busy passing major legislation on homelessness, health care, housing, and the FY27 budget. Meanwhile, the Agency of Education delivered pointed critique's of both chambers' approaches to education reform (color me shocked) and Ways and Means began inventorying the enormous technical to-do list that sits between Act 73 and anything resembling a workable foundation formula.

Let's walk through it.

Act 177 is aimed at transforming Vermont's career technical education (CTE) system, expanding student access to CTE, and modernizing program delivery while aligning training with workforce demands. The bill also reforms governance and funding structures and strengthens adult education pathways, and (in the new House Commerce Committee draft) adds substantial new operational provisions including mandatory guidance issuance, a career navigation framework, statutory credit-recognition changes, a redefined concept of comprehensive high schools, CTE educator licensing recommendations, and a formal legislative working group charged with delivering draft governance legislature by December 2026.

Campaign for Vermont Announces the Addition of Elizabeth Brown

Non-profit seeking to grow VT’s middle class expands its Advisory Council.

Montpelier, Vermont – Today Campaign for Vermont Prosperity (CFV) announced that Elizabeth Brown is joining their Advisory Council, expanding the organization’s capacity to advance data-driven, public policy solutions that strengthen Vermont’s economy and communities.

Act 169 sets Vermont’s fiscal year 2027 (2026–2027 school year) education property tax calculation (known as the yield amount), adds temporary renter credit relief and changes to the excess spending rules, and makes several technical education finance changes.

Friday's crossover deadline built momentum on a number of fronts and the House Education Committee spent this week doing something it has struggled to do all session... converging on a path forward. The answer, it appears, is shared service providers that are being called Cooperative Education Service Areas (CESAs).

Here's what happened this week...

The bill, which does not yet have a number, restructures Vermont’s school governance system by creating a new statewide map of supervisory unions, pushing districts toward larger governance models, and revising parts of the education funding formula, supervisory union boundaries, district mergers, transition grants, education funding, student weighting, and implementation timelines.