BARRE — During the first in a series of what might best be described as pep rallies for public education, you could hear a pin drop when the microphone was passed to Sen. Ann Cummings.
On a night when Barre’s Old Labor Hall was frequently rocked with enthusiastic ovations, the only applause lines delivered while Cummings was speaking were generated by those who interrupted the Montpelier Democrat who chairs the influential Senate Finance Committee.
It’s not that Cummings couldn’t read the room, which was filled with more than 100 teachers, parents and even some students, who had turned out for the first of four regional town halls organized by Vermont School Workers United.
Cummings knew exactly who she was talking to and, based on the favorable reactions of those who spoke before her, precisely what they wanted to hear.
By then, Gov. Phil Scott had repeatedly been vilified as an enemy of public education and his controversial reform proposal derided to the delight of those in attendance. A parade of speakers — some fellow lawmakers — took turns describing “school consolidation,” “vouchers,” and “school choice” as ideas that must be stopped, rising health care costs as a problem that must be fixed, and “community schools” and “local control” as things that must be protected.
Cummings could have piled on, but instead she sapped the energy from the room for nearly nine minutes by offering a more nuanced perspective of a problem she argued wouldn’t be solved with red meat and rhetoric.
“I’ve heard some pretty good political stump speeches this evening, and I think that’s not what we need,” Cummings said, instantly quieting what had been a clap-happy crowd.
“It is always easy to point a finger and say: ‘If you just did that,’” Washington County’s senior senator added. “I’ve been in the Legislature a long time and every year there is a panacea — ‘if we just do this it is going to fix the problem’ — and it never does.”
Cummings didn’t endorse any aspect of Scott’s proposal, which, among other things, would reduce the number of school districts in Vermont from more than 100 to five. However, she did acknowledge the status quo isn’t working, citing the Vermont NEA’s estimate that up to 400 jobs were eliminated during the most recent budget cycle as school boards sought to limit increases amid voters’ concern about affordability.
“You’re cutting space, you’re cutting support staff, you’re cutting classes, that’s all you have to do because your people can’t afford to pay more,” she said, adding: “If we do nothing, that’s what’s going to continue.”
Cummings’ prediction was greeted by silence but she went on.
“Our kids are not getting the education they need and deserve,” Cummings said. “My goal is to come up with a system that allows people to be able to afford a system that gives every child, no matter where they live, the same rich education that they need, and they deserve.”
Cummings explained lawmakers have repeatedly looked at an income tax as an alternative to the property tax to finance education, but have been unable to make it work, and noted two-thirds of Vermonters pay education taxes based on income, creating a $169 million gap that is picked up by those who don’t qualify for the income sensitivity provisions of the state’s current funding formula.
“The rich are paying more,” she said.
That got a reaction. It started as a low grumble that ended when one woman in the audience interjected.
“Feel free to tax second homes,” she shouted, triggering a round of applause and a clarification by another attendee.
“I think what she’s saying is a lot of out-of-staters came here and bought second homes in the last five years ... and the word was people in-state, who have the means, should pay more,” he said. “What we’re saying is, people who are out of state, and who have driven up housing prices here should pay a lot more.
The applause had already started before he added: “By income.”
“Everything is on the table,” Cummings replied, “but it is not always that simple,” she said, going on to note Vermont’s hospitals are in trouble, and its largest insurer is struggling because premiums aren’t covering costs.
“We have serious problems, and they’re going to require that we all sit down, and we roll up our sleeves, and we work together to find solutions,” she said, before another attendee interjected.
“How about single-payer (health care)?” he said.
Those in the room clapped in approval, and Cummings said lawmakers spent five years studying it, and the concept simply isn’t financially feasible in a state the size of Vermont.
Rep. Teddy Waszazak, D-Barre, restored the roar to the room, as soon as he took the microphone from Cummings.
A first-year lawmaker who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that panel is preparing to vote on a bill that would “seriously jack up taxes on second homeowners,” as owners of commercial and industrial properties.
“Our current tax structure makes absolutely no sense, point-blank period,” he said, provoking an avalanche of applause.
It wasn’t the first, or the last Waszazak received, praising public schools for their role as a social safety net.
“I would argue we are not paying enough for education in the state of Vermont,” he said.
As several who spoke before him had, Waszazak took a shot at Scott and his reform proposal.
“For somebody who talks about ‘affordability,’ the biggest obstacle to affordability in the state of Vermont is Gov. Phil Scott,” he said, as those in the labor hall clapped and cheered.
Fueled by the enthusiasm, Waszazak kept rolling.
“This is not a time for Vermont to step back in its commitment to public education,” he said. “It is a time to step up.”
A student and a special educator from the Barre Unified Union School District set the tone early, and it ratcheted up when Nikhil Goyal, a sociologist from the University of Vermont, who once worked for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, channeled his former boss in a crowd-pleasing assault on Scott’s reform proposal.
If enacted, it is one, Goyal predicted, that would lead to “mass layoffs” in a quest to save money, that would undermine education.
“Vermonters voted in November for property tax relief, but they did not vote to fire thousands of teachers and staff, abolish our democratic school boards, privatize our public schools, or close hundreds of rural schools,” he said. “It is unacceptable to balance the books on the backs of children and educators while health care executives in this state are making millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses.”
Those in attendance erupted in applause, and did again when Goyal sought to tether Scott to President Donald Trump.
“What is being proposed is the gutting of the educational workforce of this state,” he said. “Governor Scott is doing the bidding of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans. This is the Trump playbook to dismantle public education.”
Lawmakers who spoke before and after Cummings tapped that same vein, expressing concern over the loss of local control, the potential closure of local schools, and what some feared was an overreaction to an election during which “affordability” emerged as the key issue.
Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D-Washington, said he was concerned about all three.
“We have a chance to screw it up even worse because there’s so much pressure to do something big, and that’s a chance to do something that’s a mistake,” he said.
Rep. Conor Casey, D-Montpelier, acknowledged Democrats “got our clocks cleaned” last November, but said those who survived could risk alienating voters on the left unless we proceed with caution.
Casey said it is incumbent on those who organized the town halls, as well as those who attend them, to reach out to lawmakers.
“Hold us accountable, get loud, like you’re doing today, and hopefully we can pressure people to do the right thing, rather than the politically convenient thing,” he said, prompting a fresh round of applause.
Vermont School Workers United is planning two town halls next week — one on Tuesday in Bethel, and another on Thursday at Hazen Union High School in Hardwick. A fourth town hall is tentatively planned for April 2 in Chittenden County.
david.delcore @timesargus.com
