The plan is to turn the entire state into anywhere from a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 24 school districts. I guess that means at least one school district in each county. Most likely, Chittenden County will have two.

I think Washington County would become one big school district. This would complete the goal of some to bring absolute state control of the education of our young people.

With this plan, Roxbury would most likely be the first to lose its school. In a district controlled by Montpelier and Barre, Northfield would have little or no say at all in school affairs. Chances are, we’d be lucky to have one school board member for the expanded district who would even live in Northfield.

We could even lose our high school say nothing about our elementary school.

Then, there is Williamstown on the northen end of Orange County where Randolph and the southern environs would most likely have total say about what happens in little Williamstown. One wonders how long their little high school would last.

I don’t want you to think that I am being a fanatic about this or overreaching the possible outcome. These are real possibilities. Ask anyone in the legislature what the proposals are.

Once the state took on the burden of paying school taxes, taking that away from the town a few years ago, it started the domino effect which has resulted in this proposal to have the state completely control our children’s education with little or no input from the local citizenry.

Recently, the Northfield News took an on-line poll asking whether respondents favored or opposed the state being divided into 24 school districts.

Amazingly, 72 per cent responded that they favored this proposal. The poll was not scientific but it certainly was a wake up call to me. Is it really true that 72 per cent of the citizenry wants to lose local control of the schools?

On February 24, the House and Senate Committees on Education will hold a joint hearing on what they are calling the “consolidation of school districts and supervisory unions.” It will be in Room 11 in the State House in Montpelier beginning at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.

I hope that many from Northfield, Williamstown and Roxbury will attend and shout loudly.

We have a lot to lose if we let this go through without a lot of noise.

Of course, this is not the first time elimination of local school boards has been tried.

Back in 1987 a panel named by Governor Madeline Kunin said that “Vermont should overhaul its system of local school governance to eliminate the hodgepodge' of more than 300 separate governing bodies.”

They said that the current system should be replaced with fewer, more unified school districts that would more accurately reflect the system through which children pass during their 13 years of public schooling.

“This form of organization is out of step with good management practice,” the panel said. “It facilitates neither rational management nor citizen control of public education.” They were turned down flat at the time.

In fact, the state has tried at least 21 times in the past to eliminate local school boards.

It would make you think that they’ve tried so many times, one need not worry about the present attempt.

Not so! The twenty-second plan, to eliminate local boards and collapse Vermont’s town districts into 12 to 24 mega-districts, has now been placed before the legislature.

Commissioner Armando Vilaseca touts consolidation in practically every speech.

Why do they want to do this?

You’d suppose it was to save money in this time of tight budgets but, in fact, eliminating local school boards will not save any money according to William Mathis who is a former superintendent of Rutland schools and an outspoken critic of this most recent attempt to do away with our local schools.

As Mr. Mathis recently wrote, “I thought that most citizens see the school as the heart of their town. They value local schools, in their communities, where their children and the town’s children attend together. They value the election of local school board members. They value the ability to be able to call their neighbor to register a concern or a complaint and get something done. They value locally developed school budgets, voted by them.”

I think local citizens are concerned about their schools and certainly are interested in increasing school budgets while the number of children in the schools continues to diminish.

Despite Commissioner Vilaseca’s oftrepeated claim, there is no evidence that consolidation saves money. In fact, in the short term, it costs more, Dr. David Silvernail, a national expert, told the Vermont Education Funding and Effectiveness Committee.

When schools consolidate, it often will cost more as teachers bargain up toward the higher paying school’s salaries said Mr. Mathis.

Savings in abandoning a local school are offset by higher transportation costs and building renovations. Parents are faced with the cost and inconvenience of going to a more distant school for events.

As for consolidating central offices, they consume only 2.4 per cent of education dollars. Saving a great deal from such a relatively small percentage is an even smaller savings. The minuscule savings are easily swallowed up by the annual increase in health premiums.

I am hopeful that Vermonters still understand that schools are far more than just test scores.

Small schools raise student achievement, reduce violence and disruption, combat anonymity and isolation, increase attendance and graduation rates, elevate teacher satisfaction, improve school climate, operate more cost-effectively, weaken the effects of poverty and increase parent-community involvement.

The Commissioner has to show that consolidation will not diminish democratic participation, will save money, and enhance student learning and civic virtues to such a degree that citizens will swap off part of their democratic power. There is little evidence that this case can be made.

I believe that we can increase school efficiency here locally while maintaining our democratic linkages in our communities.

School business operations, special services, transportation, curriculum and professional development would be needlessly fragmented if a county wide district were created and it would completely eliminate any local input.

You need to write letters and go to the hearings in Montpelier and protest.

Governor Douglas has stated that he is opposed to this consolidation and even if passed by the legistlature would veto it.

Can we sit by and hope that this craziness will be stopped only by a governor’s veto. We need to let all of our legislators know that this is insanity and should be stopped.