Burlington, Vt. – January 25, 2010 – Five Vermont gubernatorial candidates, all Democrats, participated in a panel discussion on statewide educational policy Monday evening at the University of Vermont’s Davis Center in Burlington, Vt.  About 250 people attended the event which was sponsored jointly by Castleton State College, Saint Michael’s College and the University of Vermont. 

Former Associated Press Bureau Chief Chris Graff moderated as Senate President Peter Shumlin, Windham County; Sen. Susan Bartlett, Lamoille County; Sen. Doug Racine, Chittenden County; former Sen. Matt Dunne, Windsor County; and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz each had 10 minutes to respond to questions concerning education issues facing Vermonters.  Lt. Governor Brian Dubie was invited by organizers but declined. His campaign said he will debate issues after the primary.

A brief outline of each candidate’s response follows:

Shumlin:   

• Early education: Cited Vermont’s 2^nd largest area of growth is in prisons saying 90% of inmates have difficulty reading.
• Health care: Shumlin said health care costs rose from 6% of the budget to 12% under Dubie/Douglas administration. Promotes technology for students like laptops. Supports utilizing distance learning to cut costs.
• Technology:  A laptop on every 6^th – 8^th grade students desk.
• Higher Education: Supports a partnership with higher education institutions that provide job training for renewable energy businesses.　

 

Bartlett:    

 

• Larger districts will help people get creative. Promotes professional business managers. Lauded Act 60. Says State Board of Education’s Transformation Policy Commission has lots of good ideas despite its critics.
• Special Needs Children: Not every special needs child should be in a regular classroom.
• Consolidate to provide better educational opportunity rather than to save money.
• Addressed high dropout rates suggesting they exist because children have so many problems at home. Says schools have become deep pockets for social services. Those costs to education, she says, “It shouldn’t be on the back of the property tax.” 

Racine:

• Cited an “Us versus Them” attitude between state government and local school districts. Racine also wants to applaud what is being done well. He would be a cheerleader.
• High cost: The problem is that education is expensive.
• Poverty: Children with home issues are less likely to graduate. “Let’s start with Pre-K and make that work.” There needs to be a partnership between state and local communities.
• Higher education: “A High School diploma is not adequate any more.” A higher education needs to be available to anyone who wants it. No easy answer on funding.

　

Markowitz:

• Drop out rate: One in five kids are dropping out.
• Leadership in education: “Leadership is not top-down. It needs to be collaborative.”
• Early education: “Unless we get our kids ready to learn that first day (of school), nothing is going to happen.”
• Cost of education: Favors merging districts instead of local control.

　

Dunne:

• Cost: “We need a clear return on investment.” The number of students is going down yet costs have not.” Also cited that Vermont has the highest per capita debt for college graduates. Encouage distance learning.
• Early education: Reach out to foundations and universities. Create cooperative programs.
• Higher education: Set the expectation that every high school student can spend a semester abroad to learn a foreign language. Favors creating a student service scholarship program for funding.

 

-Vermont Daily News staff report by Alden Pellett