Ethan Allen Institute
A new report by John McClaughry of Vermont's Ethan Allen Institute takes aim at Act 60, the controversial 1997 state education finance law passed after the Vermont Supreme Court ordered equalization of school spending. McLaughry contends that Act 60 is unsustainable and urges Vermonters to embrace an altogether different remedy: granting families the right to pick their children's schools. He notes that the Green Mountain State has a long history of parental choice. Since 1869, towns that do not have their own public high school have been able to use state money to send children to private schools. McClaughry suggests that Vermont respond to the Court's mandate-and the troubles that have followed from Act 60-by providing "tuition certificates" with which parents could choose from a range of public schools. Meanwhile, aid for home schooling would also be made available and Student Tuition Organizations, financed through a 90% tax credit, would provide scholarships to private schools for interested parents. Changing the education system in these ways, the author says, would not require higher property taxes. The report can be ordered from the Ethan Allen Institute by phoning (802) 695-1448. It can also be viewed by surfing to http://www.ethanallen.org/index3.html and clicking on "School Children First."-
