Memo
Date: August 27, 2021
To: Taskforce on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report
From: Karen Horn, Director, Public Policy and Advocacy
Re: Pupil Weighting Taskforce Report Recommendations
I am writing to you on behalf of the 246 member cities and towns of the Vermont League of
Cities and Towns to urge you to implement the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting
Factors Report. On April 28, we wrote to the chairs of the House Ways and Means and
House Education committees to urge them to ensure that the task force created by S.13
(Act 59) be directed to “first implement the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting
Factors Report and do so in a way that it does not result in substantial increases in
education property tax rates across the state.”
Act 59 established an eight-member Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil
Weighting Factors Report and charged it to recommend an action plan and legislation to
ensure that all public school students have equitable access to education. Addressing the
inequities in the current pupil weighting system by applying categorical aid to compensate
for its shortcomings and inequities resolves none of the issues identified in the report. It
would require more dollars be dedicated to education funding – dollars that, over time,
would be raised from increased education property taxes – and require school districts to
wait every year for the legislature to decide what to contribute to new categorical aid
obligations.
On August 6, Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott wrote to you saying, “I know the task force has
discussed a categorical funding approach instead of correcting the weighting. Allowing the
weighting to remain inaccurate and inequitable and instead adding additional revenue is an
inefficient and expensive solution that does a disservice to our commitment to equity in
education.”
We cannot support additional property taxes being dedicated to the Education Fund for
equalizing historic inequities and we support Mayor Lott’s analysis. We urge you to do the
difficult work of implementing the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report.
Vermont League of Cities & Towns
89 Main Street
Suite 4
Montpelier, Vermont
05602-2948
Voice: 802-229-9111
Fax: 802-229-2211
info@vlct.org
www.vlct.org
VLCT Advocates for Implementation of Corrected Weights
Posted: August 27, 2021 by mschauber
Memo
Date: August 27, 2021
To: Taskforce on the Implementation of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report
From: Karen Horn, Director, Public Policy and Advocacy
Re: Pupil Weighting Taskforce Report Recommendations
I am writing to you on behalf of the 246 member cities and towns of the Vermont League of
Cities and Towns to urge you to implement the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting
Factors Report. On April 28, we wrote to the chairs of the House Ways and Means and
House Education committees to urge them to ensure that the task force created by S.13
(Act 59) be directed to “first implement the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting
Factors Report and do so in a way that it does not result in substantial increases in
education property tax rates across the state.”
Act 59 established an eight-member Task Force on the Implementation of the Pupil
Weighting Factors Report and charged it to recommend an action plan and legislation to
ensure that all public school students have equitable access to education. Addressing the
inequities in the current pupil weighting system by applying categorical aid to compensate
for its shortcomings and inequities resolves none of the issues identified in the report. It
would require more dollars be dedicated to education funding – dollars that, over time,
would be raised from increased education property taxes – and require school districts to
wait every year for the legislature to decide what to contribute to new categorical aid
obligations.
On August 6, Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott wrote to you saying, “I know the task force has
discussed a categorical funding approach instead of correcting the weighting. Allowing the
weighting to remain inaccurate and inequitable and instead adding additional revenue is an
inefficient and expensive solution that does a disservice to our commitment to equity in
education.”
We cannot support additional property taxes being dedicated to the Education Fund for
equalizing historic inequities and we support Mayor Lott’s analysis. We urge you to do the
difficult work of implementing the recommendations of the Pupil Weighting Factors Report.
Vermont League of Cities & Towns
89 Main Street
Suite 4
Montpelier, Vermont
05602-2948
Voice: 802-229-9111
Fax: 802-229-2211
info@vlct.org
www.vlct.org
Category: News