"Vote Down the School Budget! They Don’t Want to Just Survive, They Want to Thrive!" Local Control and Intergovernmental Policy Rhetoric

• In Event: Examinations of Policy Across K-16 Contexts

Abstract

In spring 2024, Vermont residents rejected a record number of school budgets.The purpose of our study is to critically interrogate the policy discourse around the 2025 educational budget planning to understand the enactment of local control in Vermont. We find that the Governor’s policy discourse frames the educational budget crisis as the fault of legislators and local educational leaders. This rhetoric is adapted by local community members, resulting in the highest number of rejected budgets in Vermont’s history. We find that LEA budgets are largely not controlled on the local level, despite the policy framing. Our research serves to critique state education policy rhetoric around funding systems aimed to reduce educational inequality.

Authors

• Daniella Hall Sutherland, University of Vermont

• Matthew S. McCluskey, University of Vermont

• Ryan Heraty, University of Vermont

• Tamara Eklöf-Parks, University of Vermont