Dear Chairmen Cochran and Blunt and Ranking Members Leahy and Murray:
I am writing today, on behalf of the vulnerable students in Vermont, to share our concerns with the President’s proposed K-12 education appropriations priorities for the Fiscal Year 2018 appropriations cycle.
Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott is committed to investments that grow the economy and make Vermont more affordable, but knows that progress doesn’t—and can’t-- come at the expense of our most vulnerable, and in particular, our most vulnerable children. The current wellbeing of our children is essential to the future economic strength of Vermont and the nation. Vermont is a small state with an aging and declining population. We struggle to find workers to power our economic growth. When we allow inequity in outcomes, we leave the full academic and personal potential of many of our most vulnerable children on the table. In doing so, we undermine our own future economic prosperity. For us, strong schools that support child-wellbeing are an imperative. Federal dollars provide supplementary supports that some children need, due to accidents of life circumstances, in order to thrive alongside their peers.