Welcome back!
This issue of the 802 Ed covers many topics that are immediately useful like updates on DEI as a political flashpoint, opportunities for students interested in the State Youth Council, and a bill under consideration in Virginia that saves money by teaching more. Be sure to check out the round-up of recently printed op-eds!
New to the lingo? At the suggestion of a reader we include a guide to common abbreviations, just scroll down past the news.
- Steven Berbeco, Editor
School Leadership
Letters of Rec. Higher Ed Jobs offers advice on how to keep your back bench of letters of recommendation fresh, applicable to K-12 school leaders as well as higher ed.
How to Save A School. The VPO offers a solution for communities looking for alternatives to closing a local school: “YIMBY, YIMBY, YIMBY.”
“This Is Not Schrödinger’s Visa.” Politico reviews the rapid ramp up and unraveling of the federal administration’s attempts to cancel student visas.
Shut Down, Walk Out. Seven Days VT reports on a recent school board meeting where the chair twice called a recess when a teacher tried to talk, and then dozens of educators walked out of the meeting. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it
Missing: Student Voice. VT Digger covers a recent legislative hearing where students panned the current efforts at education reform: “I was shocked by the absence of student input.”
Minus Nine Zeroes for Mental Health. The New York Times reports on the federal administration’s decision to cancel a billion dollars in youth mental health funding. Gift link
“Targeted For Deportation.” Shelburne News picks up the story of a kindergartener whose family has decided to leave the country and its current political climate.
Bye, Electric Buses. WCAX investigates why a school district bought electric buses and then decided against using them after all.
“Critical Inflection Point.” School Administrator reviews the efforts of three community-backed projects to address schools’ mental health challenges, in an issue devoted to mental wellness of staff and students.
The Powerful Vs. Seven Days VT takes a long look at the role of lobbyists who outnumber legislators about three to one, including three educational organizations that together have earned a single-letter nickname.
Starbase Off The Hot Seat. The Rutland Herald passes on the good news that funding for the STARBASE STEM program has had its funding restored for the remainer of the fiscal year.
“Bell-to-Bell Ban.” VT Digger brings us up to speed on the legislature’s consideration of a bill with more than four dozen co-sponsors that addresses cellphones in school.
Dropping The DEI. The Citizen focuses in on a school district that is finding a way to continue supporting students at a politically sensitive time: “It’s every kid, and that’s what I think people don’t understand about DEI.”
Title I vs. DEI. The New York Times checks in on reaction to the federal administration’s plan to pressure schools to remove DEI programs by withholding funds intended to educate low-income students. Gift link
Creating A “Go-Between.” Education Week runs through the advantages of creating second-line school leadership to support teacher morale.
Mini Report Card. The Hechinger Report follows the U.S. Department of Education’s deliberations with the new Department of Government Efficiency, and a decision to cancel many of the NAEP tests in the coming years: “None of us want to do this.”
Heads Up, Vermont. States are taking innovative steps to support their students and Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:
Florida’s schools are looking to improve math scores, noting a lack of unified approach like “science of reading” for literacy.
A prison education bill in Virginia aims to save the state more than $300 million.
School Shootings in 2025. Education Week’s tracker has logged six school shootings in 2025: “On April 15, five students were injured - one with a non-gunshot wound - in a shooting inside Wilmer-Hutchins High School in Dallas.” Total school shootings in 2024: 39. As a reminder, DPS and AOE operate an anonymous school safety tip line for students, school staff, and their community: calling 1-844-SAFE4VT; texting SAFE4VT to 274637; or online at safe4vt.org. For questions about school safety training in Vermont, contact Rob Evans.
Buzz On The Street
This sections highlights recent op-eds and letters to the editor about education. Send a note and tell us what you think!
Jack Hoffman suggests caution in education reform: “Big changes don’t always live up to their promises and come with unintended, often negative, consequences.”
Jamie Dansereau asks what becomes possible when after-school programs are recognized as essential to our youth.
Nikki St. Mary claims a superintendent displayed “toxic positivity” at a recent school board meeting; a member of the central office staff offers a different perspective.
Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers talks up the importance of career and technical education.
Jason Van Driesche takes aim at the state’s top education leader for “walking back her own giant, cowardly misstep.”
Reader Survey
In each issue we ask a survey question to get a sense of what is on our readers’ minds. Then, the following issue, we report back on what we learned.
Last issue we asked: How is Vermont’s education system responding to recent changes coming from the federal government? Responses were overwhelmingly strongest for We should be pushing back more, with few readers selecting We should try to avoid being noticed and almost no readers selecting The changes are fine, what’s the big deal?
This issue’s survey question: Who benefits most from Spring vacation? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.
✅ Students, who need to recharge.
✅ School staff, who need to recharge.
✅ No one, lets just get done with this school year.
Thank you to the reader from New Hampshire who suggested that survey question. What’s on your mind? Suggest a survey question to find out how your colleagues respond in an upcoming issue of the 802 Ed!
Listen Up
Check out the 802 Ed’s conversation-style podcast! Generated by Notebook LM
Job Listings
Supercharge The Applicant Pool. The market for school staff in Vermont is fierce and it’s important to stand out when attracting quality candidates. Why get wedged in among thousands of open positions on SchoolSpring? Your opportunity can stand out in an upcoming issue of the 802 Ed, dropping into the Inbox of thousands of readers. Sponsored by 802 Ed
School Leader Vacancies. Latest report from VPA counts 46 school leader positions, like principal and assistant principal, that are turning over for next school year.
The Big List. Josh Czupryk compiles and publishes a monthly spreadsheet with more than 600 job opportunities for remote work in K-12 education.
Looking for a Change? With so many open positions in Vermont, there are sometimes unusual opportunities. For example, for those of us who get excited about collective bargaining negotiations, the State of Vermont recently posted an RFP for a Chief Negotiator to represent the entire state government.
Thank The Team
You read it, you love it, and now is a good time to say thanks. Cover our coffee budget! Writing, editing, researching… all of that is caffeine driven. Choose this option and the extra energy will go to finding a few more updates to share.
Note From The Editor
There are many ways we mark Spring in Vermont: collecting fiddleheads, pulling the lawn mower out of the back of the garage, and resting up over April vacation for that last stretch to the end of the school year.
It’s a time of renewal for more than the garden, though. Teacher contracts are distributed and handed back in - or not, in a state-wide musical chairs as many school staff members find a place that works better for their commute, their pocketbook, or their career goals. Check out the graph below to see a visualization of this hiring crescendo.
For school leaders, it’s also time to renew licenses. Sure, it’s not the most exciting news going on in education, but more than one in ten superintendent and principal license expires at the end of June. Well, it’s not news until it is, right?
So - heads up to the holders of 84 superintendent licenses and 403 principal licenses (including me) to get that paperwork in, fingerprints updated, and other boxes checked. And to the dozen or so whose active licenses have already expired – better pause on the fiddleheads and get right on that.
Eye on Data
The chart below tracks the number of open positions for teachers in Vermont in the past 120 days, presented as data points and no trend line this time. Data from SchoolSpring.
Pass It On
Like what you are reading? Hit the button below to send a copy to a colleague, friend, neighbor, your boss… whoever!
Colleagues on the Move
Congratulations to this colleague who received administrator licensure from AOE since the last issue of the 802 Ed! Data from AOE.
Jensen Welch • Principal
Do you know a colleague who has made a recent move? Let us know!
Grants & Opportunities
Teaching Media Literacy. The Center for Civic Education is providing a stipended, expenses-paid summer training opportunity for grade 4-8 educators, to engage students in media literacy with hands-on engagement in public policy. July 7 to 11, in New Jersey.
Mental Health First Aid. Virtual, no-cost workshops are available to educators and others who want to learn skills in identifying and responding to symptoms of mental illness and substance use disorder. May and June.
Diversifying The Educator Workforce. Great Schools Partnership is holding a no-cost conference 8:15 am to 3 pm, May 23 at the Killington Grand Hotel, to advance the diversification of Vermont’s educator workforce. Registration deadline is May 12.
State Youth Council. Applications have opened for three-year, stipended terms, where youth ages 11-18 develop state policy recommendations for the governor and legislature. Deadline is May 31.
If You Missed It
When Students Talk Back. A debate team from a Vermont high school pushed through the odds to make it all the way to national finals: “Given that we go to school in an abandoned shopping mall, beating these schools with tuition north of $60,000 did have a little satisfaction to it.”
3D. Smithsonian Education offers tips on how to embed three dimensional images into classroom learning, from early human footprints to Afrofuturism and more.
Restarting Head Start. Several plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit against the federal administration warning that “loss of access to affordable childcare will have catastrophic and cascading impacts.”
Since 2021 the biweekly 802 Ed has brought together the latest from Vermont's associations for principals, superintendents, and school board members, as well as state and national education agencies and many other news sources. We hope that you'll find something useful in each issue and welcome comments or suggestions for upcoming issues: editor@802ed.com.
Abbreviation list: AASA School Superintendents Association, AOE Agency of Education, DCF Department for Children and Families, DMH Department of Mental Health, DPS Department of Public Safety, FERPA Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, NAEP National Assessment of Education Progress, NEASC New England Association of Schools and Colleges, RFP Request for Proposals, SBE State Board of Education, SEL Social Emotional Learning, UVEI Upper Valley Educators Institute, VEHI Vermont Education Health Initiative, VPA Vermont Principals Association, VPO Vermont Political Observer, VREC Vermont Rural Education Collaborative, VSA Vermont Superintendents Association, VSBA Vermont School Board Association, VSBIT Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust, VSBPE Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators, VTCLA Vermont Curriculum Leaders Association, VTSU Vermont State University.
Special bonus for making it to the bottom: The public library in Randolph, Vermont has taxidermied piranhas, which I suppose is better than live ones.