The 802 Ed
What's going on in Vermont's education policy and practice
Welcome back!
This issue of the 802 Ed covers many topics that are immediately useful like the latest on “sanctuary schools,” classroom resources for celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and an opportunity to request (nearly) free laptops for learning. Be sure to check out the recently published results of AOE’s community engagement efforts.
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
Resolving, And Making It Stick. Higher Ed Jobs offers advice - and also videos and a handout - for keeping those New Year’s resolutions.
Sanctuary Schools. Education leaders are expressing concern about the incoming presidential administration’s goal of developing the “largest deportation program in American history.”
VT Digger reports on a district developing a policy to “establish itself as a safe place for its students and their families if faced with fear and anxiety about immigration enforcement efforts.”
The New York Times zooms into preparation that the city’s K-12 schools are making. Gift link
The Hechinger Report gives us the view from higher ed.
VT Digger hands the pen to an educator who asks in an opinion piece: What if ICE shows up at school?
All in The Family. School Administrator offers a view of four school leaders whose children are students in the districts where they work.
Quis Custodiet? Seven Days VT focuses on the ouroboros of the legislatively mandated Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont that is questioning its own work: “Someone has to step up in leadership and make a plan.”
Time To Exclude Inclusion? The Hechinger Report tips us off to a paper on special education about to be published: “We’re not saying that the evidence indicates full inclusion cannot work. We’re saying that the evidence in terms of where to place these children is extremely weak, is fundamentally flawed, and no conclusions can be drawn from the evidence.”
Downside of Upward Promotion. Education Week hands the pen to a school leader who reflects on the “messy and imperfect” move from the classroom.
“Broken and Failing” Education. Vermont Public dives into the governor’s inaugural speech and a “multi-year plan to transform education,” notably the state’s system of education finance. WCAX picks up on some of the mixed reaction and even the often curmudgeony VPO gave it an overall meh.
Top Ten Teachers’ Terrors. Education Week Research Center polled a nationally representative group of teachers to learn about their greatest concerns, with some surprising results. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it.
Heads Up, Vermont. States are taking innovative steps to support their students and Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:
Connecticut, Utah, and Maryland were among nearly two dozen states that innovated their prison education programs last year, increasing access, financial aid, and more.
Nebraska is reclassifying small school districts to reduce the burden on them from unfunded mandates: “It’s just not logical to tell a district that is about 2% of the size of the other district that all of your staff need to complete this training program.”
School Shootings in 2025. Education Week’s tracker has not logged any school shootings in 2025. 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.
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: What role does AI have in your day-to-day work? Responses were evenly split between It’s an important tool that I use often and I don’t think it’s relevant or helpful for my work, with almost no readers selecting What’s AI?
This issue’s survey question: What do think about the governor’s as-yet unreleased plan for education finance reform? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.
✅ Thank goodness someone has a plan
✅ I have a bad feeling about this one
✅ I’ll wait to hear more before deciding
Thank you to the reader from Rutland 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
The Big List. Josh Czupryk compiles and publishes a monthly spreadsheet with more than 500 job opportunities for remote work in K-12 education.
Looking for a Change? With so many open positions in education, there are sometimes unusual opportunities. For example, those who feel that Vermont is too balmy for their tastes may be interested to learn that Fargo, North Dakota is recruiting a superintendent. Winter temps there rarely fall below -18°F.
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
The start of the new biennium, the two-year cycle of the state’s legislature, is a time for celebration and dare I say, optimism. It’s a time to forgive, forget, and get on with making the state better for all of us with a new set of bills for consideration.
One of the rituals this time of year is to shake up the committee assignments. Or, as seen from the inside, it’s maybe more a game of musical chairs. The music stops and everyone is assigned a committee for the next two years.
Sometimes the committee assignments come out as expected. For example, the House Committee on Health Care is now chaired by a long-time advocate for mental health and especially suicide prevention. (Hope there’s room for youth mental health in there, too!)
And sometimes the crystal ball is more of a snow globe. About half of the legislators on the both House and Senate education committees are new to the assignment, which means a lot of quick learning ahead.
What’s top of mind? As a legislator told me recently, the hottest topic in both chambers won’t be a surprise: “Ed spending is most certainly the defining issue of the day.”
And for sure, it’s going to be different from last session. Consider the governor’s pitch in his inaugural address: “We’ll propose a new, simpler governance structure so we can deliver a better and more equal education across communities.”
Simpler governance. There are two places in the United States that have simpler, fully centralized education decision-making: Hawaii and Washington, D.C. And with all respect to the nation’s capital, most people refer to this as the Hawaii Model because, let’s face it, we’d rather be more like Hawaii especially in the dead of winter.
I took the kids to Hawaii a while back. Great place, delicious tuna poke, nice volcanoes, sweet beaches. And it’s all one school district.
On the one hand it may make sense to continue the consolidation of schools until there is just one state-wide district. On the other hand, it sure looks like Hawaii has been regretting that decision for several years now.
This wouldn’t be the first time that the idea of “simpler governance” has been floated in Vermont, but we haven’t seen it publicly since an ill-fated memo several years ago that the governor distanced himself from.
So why now? Maybe because of the number of seats that went Republican in the recent election, presuming more support for his initiatives. Or maybe just that the mess of education finance has reached a natural breaking point.
Either way, it’s going to be an interesting legislative session. As the kids say: Let the games begin.
Eye on Data
The chart below tracks the number of open positions for substitutes in Vermont in the past 90 days, presented as data points and a linear trend line. 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 these school leaders who are making a change! Data from VPA.
Tim O’Leary was selected to be principal at Charlotte Central School. He is taking over from Jennifer Roth.
Beth Slater was selected to be assistant principal and special education director at Charlotte Central School. She is taking over from Tim O’Leary.
Jennifer Roth was selected to be principal at Shelburne Community School. She is taking over from Alison Celmer.
Michael Kell was selected to be head of school at the Expeditionary School at Black River. He is taking over from Kendra Rickerby.
Emma Vastola was selected to be interim principal at Cavendish Town Elementary School. She is taking over from Dale Mann.
Congratulations also to these colleagues who received administrator licensure from AOE since the last issue of the 802 Ed! Data from AOE.
Coral Czachor • Superintendent
Marlon Maylor • Superintendent
Do you know a colleague who has made a recent move? Let us know!
Grants & Opportunities
East Asia Impacting the World. The Five College Center for East Asian Studies is offering an in-person, 30-credit plus stipend seminar for K-12 educators, specialists, and administrators. Rutland High School, 9am - 3pm, March 8, 15, 22, 29, and April 5 in St. Johnsbury.
ROPA Reviewers. AOE is seeking teachers and administrators for Results Oriented Program Approval teams that review educator preparation programs. Most reviews last two days, and team members receive a $250 stipend, reimbursement for mileage, lodging, and meals while on the visit, and professional development credit toward license renewal. Editor’s note - I participated in a ROPA review and recommend it highly!
Screenagers. Winooski Partnership for Prevention is offering free access to a documentary for elementary school children and their parents and educators, with focus on smartwatches in class, unhooking from and monitoring video gaming, social media pressures, what research shows is a healthy amount of screen time, and more.
More Than Having A Dream. Smithsonian Magazine offers teaching resources for grades 4 to 12 including primary sources in preparation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Social Emotional Development in Children. Vermont Afterschool is offering a no-cost credit bearing online class beginning January 21, for staff of licensed afterschool programs.
Computers for Learning. The federal General Services Administration offers laptops at no charge (just shipping costs) to schools and educational nonprofit organizations to support education for children.
Mental Health First Aid. Several virtual classes are available at no cost to support students and staff experiencing mental health or substance use challenges. February and new evening classes in March.
Millions for Distance Learning. The USDA recently announced a $40 million grant program to support the purchase of audio and video equipment so students can participate in classes virtually. Deadline is March 6.
If You Missed It
Legislative Syllabus. The governor sent the legislature a proposed crash course in education finance lined up with the “comprehensive education proposal I will present alongside my FY26 budget.”
The Talk. Rev. Thomas moderates a panel conversation about the experience of marginalized students living and studying in central Vermont.
Listened and Learned. AOE recently released a lengthy report and video based on its community engagement efforts, tipping the cards on what’s to come in the legislative session: “Stakeholders value local autonomy but also desire closer collaboration and consistency.”
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. 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, ADM Average Daily Membership, AHS Agency of Human Services, AOE Agency of Education, CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDD Child Development Division, CVTSE Coalition for Vermont Student Equity, DAIL Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, DCF Department for Children and Families, DMH Department of Mental Health, DPS Department of Public Safety, ED U.S. Department of Education, FERPA Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children, NEASC New England Association of Schools and Colleges, NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, RFP Request for Proposals, SBE State Board of Education, SEL Social Emotional Learning, 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: Write your name in satellite pictures of the Earth! The smart people at NASA have a Landsat website that produces images of landforms shaped like letters of the alphabet. Thanks for the tip, Daybreak!