The 802 Ed

What's going on in Vermont education policy and practice

Welcome back!

This issue of the 802 Ed covers many topics that are immediately useful like the state-wide school redistricting task force’s move away from developing maps, the federal administration’s elimination of the Blue Ribbon Schools program, and early evidence that school cell phone bans may significantly increase suspension of Black students. Be sure to check out the child care teacher opportunity that pays well into the six figures!

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

Status Begets Power. Higher Ed Jobs draws on psychology research to make a case for prioritizing mutual respect as a path to career growth.

Ten Year Plan. VT Digger gives us a heads up about the state school redistricting task force’s recommendation for voluntary district mergers over a decade, with school construction incentives and regional service agencies, instead of creating a new statewide district map; the secretary of education’s push-back; and a legislator who felt “incredibly distraught when the secretary came in and said misinformation about having our cooperative service agencies being an extra layer of bureaucracy.”

• Hardwick Gazette points out that there were “more questions than answers” at a recent community meeting, and podcast There’s No “A” in Creemee wraps up a meeting in Winooski with local skepticism about the process.

• VT Digger asks legislators what they think about redistricting, with one commenting that the task force “decided it would be irresponsible just to draw lines on a map.”

• Gadfly VPO again minces no words about the School District Redistricting Task Force’s decision to step away from maps and instead offer “a flat rejection of the Act 73 mandate and a slap in the face of the governor and Legislature.”

• WCAX suggests that the governor may slap back by asking the legislature to replace task force members with members who will draw the maps.

Six Seven. Education Week explains why classrooms erupt when younger students hear the magic number, and a school that went ahead and banned the number during instructional time. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it. Update: The New York Times picked up on the trend, too. Gift link

“Families Have Been Traumatized.” Chalkbeat covers the national story of an immigration enforcement raid on a child care program, where a teacher was removed in front of her students.

Clip The Ribbons. Education Week picks up on the federal administration’s decision to cut the national Blue Ribbon program that recognizes school excellence.

Vermont for Vermonters? Seven Days VT mentions that a departing state senator hinted at an upcoming Republican bill expected to require candidates for public office to be born in Vermont.

“Those Were Not My Words.” Furloughed federal employees were surprised to learn their out-of-office messages were automatically updated to a message blaming the government shutdown on Senate Democrats. Update: the federal employees’ union has filed a lawsuit alleging that the out-of-office message violates their First Amendment rights. Further Update: A federal judge ordered the administration to stop: “Political officials are free to blame whomever they wish for the shutdown, but they cannot use rank-and-file civil servants as their unwilling spokespeople.”

Better Cell Phone Bans. Education Week checks in with psychologist Angela Duckworth on what research tells us works best in moderating cell phone use in schools: “When we did a landscape analysis of the scientific evidence on which policies are best, we found it sorely lacking.”

• Early research from Florida points to an unintended consequence in the first year of state-wide cellphone ban: “a significant increase in student suspensions … especially among Black students.”

Public Comment Done Well. School Administrator hands the pen to a familiar name among Vermont’s school boards to give advice on making the most of public comments to the board.

Kid Governor. Seven Days VT brings us to speed on a statewide election among fifth graders, including a link to the candidates’ campaign videos.

Sterling to Shut. WCAX passes on the news that another small college in Vermont is planning to close up shop.

“An Arbitrary Line.” VTDigger reports on an independent school’s challenge to Act 73 in federal court, arguing that a requirement that independent schools have at least 25% of their students previously funded by public tuition “does not further any legitimate governmental purpose.”

Gifted Babies. The Hechinger Report peeks behind the curtain of whether it’s a good idea to test young children for accelerated learning: “People are very bad at looking at another person and inferring a lot about what’s going on under the hood.”

“There’s Just So Few Kids.” VT Digger zooms into a district in southern Vermont that is weighing a decision to close two local elementary schools. Update: The board voted to shutter the schools, despite a local non-binding referendum to keep them open.

Heads Up, Vermont. States are taking innovative steps to support their students and Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:

• New Hampshire has been growing community college programs that train child care workers.

• Legislators in Wisconsin have introduced bills to incentivize consolidation of schools in an environment of decreasing enrollment.

• Several states have laws on the book that mandate gun safety lessons for public school students.

School Shootings in 2025. Education Week’s tracker has logged 14 school shootings in 2025: “On Nov. 7, a 17-year-old boy was shot and injured in the Harper Woods High School parking lot during a football playoff game in Harper Woods, Mich.” 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 Sunni Erikson.

Buzz On The Street

This sections highlights recent op-eds and letters to the editor about education.

• Meghan Metzler and Dave Connery argue that the authors’ school board already operates effectively at the scale mandated by Act 73, and therefore recommends that further mandated consolidation of school districts would not be beneficial and would divert focus from student learning.

• Ryan Heraty hits home the point with concerns about Act 73, because it ignores the real issue of teacher quality, will raise taxes, erode local control, and worsen the teacher-shortage and pension-system problems: “In other words, the plan is a bust.”

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 should schools leaders check on school climate? Responses were strongest for Anonymous staff surveys a few times a year, with fewer readers selecting Convene a School Climate Committee. There wasn’t much support for Suggestion box in the main office.

This issue’s survey question: Should students miss school for a family vacation? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.

✅ Yes, they can make up missing work

✅ No, seat time is super important

✅ It depends on the student

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!

How Ya Doin’?

The start of the school year can be challenging for many reasons. It may be helpful to look for support around personal and professional issues. If you would like to schedule a time to talk with a rostered psychotherapist and VPA mentor, we can work on making small but significant steps that promote self-care, communication, and control. Sponsored by 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 about 600 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, a family in London is looking for a tutor for their a one-year old “on his first steps to becoming an English gentleman,” with an annual salary of more than $200,000.

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

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A navy ship gets on the radio to establish communication and request that the other mariners divert course to avoid a collision. The response is that the navy ship should divert its own course.

Things get testy with the navy ship demanding a change, pointing out that it is a well-armed aircraft carrier. The response is that they are talking with a lighthouse: “Your call, sir.”

So, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Or, to put it another way, a push from the governor and legislators to develop three school redistricting maps on the one hand, and on the other hand Vermont’s communities saying, “No, thank you.”

The School Redistricting Task Force that was assembled to develop these maps stood in the middle of this logical paradox. Push forward with the strength of a navy warship, or stand one’s ground like a well-braced lighthouse?

They instead found a third option and returned a ten-year plan to incentivize change among the state’s school districts, suggesting use of one of the biggest carrots imaginable: school construction aid.

Meanwhile, back in Montpelier, the governor and legislators seem to be considering their options. We may have to wait until the legislature reconvenes in January to see if they plan to build a bigger warship to mow down the lighthouse.

Eye on Data

The chart below tracks open positions for substitutes 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!

Grants & Opportunities

Updating The Rules. DCF’s Child Development Division is hosting a webinar on proposed revisions to child care licensing rules. 1 pm to 2:30 pm, November 17.

No More (Reading) Wars. UVM has announced a presentation by a Stanford education professor on how to use evidence based practices to support literacy learners. 4 pm to 5:30 pm, November 17. Davis Center at the University of Vermont, Silver Maple Ballroom (4th floor), 590 Main Street, Burlington.

Better Kid Care. DCF has posted an RFP for a contractor to develop online modules for early childhood and afterschool licensing requirements. Deadline is November 21.

Holocaust Professional Development. AOE and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are offering an in-person/virtual program for grade 6-12 educators to strengthen their evidence-based literacy practices when teaching about the Holocaust and genocide. 9 am to 3:30 pm, December 5, in Montpelier. Register by November 24.

Harvard Service Fellowship. Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government recently announced a fully-funded fellowship for public servants, including public school teachers. Deadline is December 1.

Happy Birthday, Vermont! AOE recently announced in-person professional development workshops on integrating the Vermont 250th Art Exhibition into classes. 9 am to 3 pm, December 11 in Milton, December 17 in St. Johnsbury, December 18 in Brattleboro.

Poops and Paws. Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Department is offering a free curriculum in recognizing wintertime animals by their scat and tracks, intended for K-8 students. Register by December 15.

Clipping, Snipping, And Coloring. The state’s Department of Corrections published an RFP for a cosmetology and barbering instruction. Deadline is December 18.

If You Missed It

Personal Curriculum. A retired curriculum director from Vermont blogs about developing trimester self-learning courses “as critical grease for the cognitive cogs.”

Life Skills 101. A university emphasizing “life skills” and career readiness has a near-100% job placement rate, offering a counterexample to the growing narrative that a college degree is no longer worth the investment for Gen Z.

Every Day Counts. University of Vermont researchers are using research-driven, multi-sector collaboration among schools, health services, and families to treat chronic absenteeism in rural Vermont as a public-health issue rather than simply a compliance problem.

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: Correlation is not causation, but Master’s degrees awarded in linguistics correlate strongly (r=.98) with the divorce rate in Alaska.