Welcome back!
This issue of the 802 Ed covers many topics that are immediately useful like how to incorporate guidelines on using artificial intelligence when drafting a new teacher contract, a professional development opportunity using remote controlled telescopes, and the benefits of knowing poker as a school leader. Be sure to check out the arts mini-grant opportunity!
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
Why Does Tutoring Not Work? The Hechinger Report digs into research that shows tutoring can have a significantly positive impact on student learning, yet sometimes falls flat because there aren’t enough minutes in a school day.
“A Misguided Reform.” The Bridge follows up on the reaction to changes anticipated with the recent passing of Act 73, and issues that a superintendent and legislators have with it.
Jagged Little Pill. School Administrator hands the pen to a superintendent who links an Alanis Morisette hit song to the work of a school leader.
Teaching The Poker Face. Vermont Public zooms into a new afterschool club that teaches poker to high school girls as a way to build empowerment.
AI in The Negotiated Contract. Education Week takes a look at districts that have run into problems with union contracts by not incorporating expectations of teachers’ use of artificial intelligence.
Fewer Dollars for Religious Schools. VT Digger unpacks Act 73, recently signed into law, and a new two-prong test for independent schools to be eligible for public funding. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it
Good Bridges Make Good Neighbors. Seven Days VT focuses on efforts by supervisory unions and school districts to strengthen collaboration ahead of changes that may come with state-wide redistricting: “You can still have that local school and community but share services with other school districts in the region and have a stronger system.”
Phasing Out The School Bus. Education Week runs through the pros and cons of moving student transportation from school buses to public transportation.
No Phones, Now What? K-12 Dive describes how a half-dozen different school leaders across the country are handling new bans on cell phones in their schools.
Solving The Scheduling Conundrum. Edutopia offers practical advice from three principals on how to help teachers free up time for classroom planning.
Heads Up, Vermont. States are taking innovative steps to support their students and Vermont school leaders and lawmakers should take note:
Police in Illinois are no longer permitted to ticket students in school, and there are new state-wide expectations for School Resource Officers, too.
Illinois recently passed a law protecting the rights of undocumented students to a public education.
New teachers in Flint, Michigan are recruited with a $10,000 signing bonus.
School Shootings in 2025. Education Week’s tracker has logged eight school shootings in 2025: “On Aug. 27, two children were killed and multiple people were injured in a shooting during a school mass at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Minn.” 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.
The Windham Southeast Education Association pens an open letter to the local school bus company, asking them to return to the bargaining table with unionized bus drivers and monitors: “We ask that they swiftly resolve a contract that will support the essential work of safely transporting our students to and from school.”
Elayne Clift argues that the federal administration’s recent activities threaten students, teachers, and constitutional balance, but also shows that public pressure can help reverse some of the damage: “On this and other urgent matters, we need to keep the pressure up. It obviously works.”
Dorrine Dorfman and Charlene Webster advocate for immediate, research-based reading interventions across K–12, with trained professionals and transparent progress monitoring, to help students close literacy gaps early: “It’s never too early to start reading instruction and intervention in our schools.”
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 is the best part of the first day of school? Responses were overwhelmingly strongest for The excitement of the new school year, with almost no readers selecting Snacks - it’s all about the snacks. No one selected Only 80 school days until Winter Break.
This issue’s survey question: Where should the U.S. Secretary of Education visit when coming to Vermont? Please indicate your response by clicking a check mark.
✅ My school
✅ Anyone else’s school but mine
✅ I’m not sure
Thank you to the reader from Addison County 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 to get away from it all. For example, far-off Tristan da Cunha occasionally has teaching positions available, although it takes a week to reach the island by boat. Perks include free housing and views of the fabled Inaccessible Island.
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
When talking education in Vermont, there has been a lot of ink spilled about infrastructure. Sometimes it’s pointed remarks about school buildings falling apart, and other times it’s a carcinogenic substance that shuts down classrooms and sends everyone out into tent learning - I’m looking at you, PCBs!
But infrastructure isn’t just bricks, mortar, and hazardous chemicals. Students learn in a global classroom these days, and giga-speed access has become more than a feather in the cap for a district.
Internet access is now as fundamental as electricity or heat. Without it, students cannot fully engage with digital curricula, online assessments, or the collaborative tools that prepare them for college and careers. Yet so many of Vermont’s rural communities still struggle with unreliable or prohibitively expensive service, leaving students at a disadvantage before they even enter the classroom.
That’s why the state Community Broadband Board’s proposal of a $180 million broadband expansion should be appreciated as far beyond bringing Netflix to more homes. More importantly, it is a decisive step toward educational equity.
Fiber-optic and low Earth satellite infrastructure will provide the speed and stability that rural schools and households need, ensuring that geography is no longer destiny when it comes to learning opportunities.
This is particularly important as schools adopt blended learning models, expand access to advanced coursework online, and integrate digital literacy into every subject.
But the work cannot stop here. Our legislators in Montpelier must now ensure that service is affordable and widely adopted. Otherwise, the digital divide will persist, not from lack of infrastructure, but from lack of access.
Vermont has an opportunity to set a national example by coupling infrastructure investment with policies that make high-speed internet accessible to every community. Lets hope the state ensures that connectivity truly becomes a tool for equity in education.
Eye on Data
The chart below tracks open positions for music teachers in the past 60 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
YouthAstroNet. The Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has opened applications for educators of middle school students to participate in a project using remotely controlled robotic telescopes and easy-to-use software tools in a paid professional development opportunity. Information sessions by Zoom at 7pm, September 10 and 17.
Teachers Night Out. Burlington City Arts invites Vermont educators, including teachers in training and family members, to unwind at a social hour and pre-opening for its new exhibit. Burlington City Arts Center Gallery, 4 - 5pm, September 26.
Arts Mini-Grant. VSA has announced a competition for three $5,000 grants to support arts education, for arts educators and school leaders in Vermont. Deadline is September 30.
Virtual Exchange for Teachers. The Smithsonian is offering “Democracy in Dialogue,” a student-centered, inquiry-based professional development opportunity in civics for January to May, 2026. Deadline to apply is October 5.
Fewer Suspensions, More Engagement. DCF released an RFP for contractors who can reduce racial disparities in school discipline. Deadline is October 15.
Keeping The Kids Safe. AOE, DPS, and the Vermont School Safety Center announced the annual School Safety Conference on October 28, at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel, with 6 hours of credit for professional development available.
If You Missed It
All Bets Are Off. A recently published a book review about playing poker makes connections to the work of a school leader: “As a veteran superintendent, this book was extremely helpful in how I can think differently about the many complex decisions I am asked to make.”
Quick Curriculum Development. The U.S. Secretaries of Education and Health released a demand letter that medical schools “immediately implement comprehensive nutrition education and training,” with curricular plans due by next week.
Award-Winning School. Congratulations to Woodstock Union Middle School, recently recognized as a School of Distinction in a national competition!
Risk Survey in The Crosshairs. The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into a Massachusetts school district that administered the anonymous Youth Risk Behavior Survey to a student against the parents’ wishes.
Draft Draft Draft. The Vermont Redistricting Task Force recently published a “template for proposing redistricting plans,” with a broad view of what its final plan may look like. This was a popular item in last issue, so here it is again for readers who may have missed it
Incoming Fed. The U.S. Secretary of Education announced a tour of all 50 states, though details for Vermont have yet to be released.
Tips for AI. A Vermont school district recently developed and published “guiding principles” for use of artificial intelligence in the classroom.
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: You read it here first, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is now available in Zulu.