PUTNEY — I am disappointed that Governor Phil Scott is choosing to play politics with our children's future in his first budget.
The bottom line: level funding school budgets means cuts in real terms and higher property taxes by shifting more expenditures into the education budget. That's not the way to go.
Along with that, the governor is asking school boards across the state to tear up the budgets they've been working on for months and start anew. In most cases, those budgets have already been sent to the printer for annual town reports for Annual Town Meeting.
We haven't seen a power grab like this one in some time. The governor is ignoring local decision makers and seeking the power to overrule local control.
Democrats are not going for this approach and it is disappointing, especially since the governor campaigned on being a reasonable candidate who knew how to work with the Democratic majority.
And, while increasing funds to early education and the state colleges is in line with what Democrats have been trying to do, his idea to fund it by cannibalizing the K-12 education budgets makes no sense.
This is an attempt to sow seeds of discord among different levels of our education system and get us fighting among ourselves for funding.That's not the way to treat educators, or our children.
Vermont Democrats will keep working hard to do what's best for our children and building a strong, healthy future for Vermonters.