Lola Duffort

6 days ago | vermontpublic.org | Lola Duffort

A year and half into failed negotiations, educators in Rutland City have authorized a strike starting May 14. The vote was overwhelming: 93% of the bargaining unit’s members voted to walk off the job, according to Sue Tanen, president of the Rutland Education Association. If the two sides don’t settle before school starts on Wednesday, it will be the first teachers’ strike in Vermont in nearly a decade. Burlington teachers went on strike for four days in 2017.

1 week ago | vermontpublic.org | Lola Duffort

Lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk Wednesday that relies on $118 million in one-time surplus money to keep education property taxes nearly flat. Homestead tax rates — which is what residents pay on their primary home — vary from town to town, depending on local spending. But if the Republican governor signs H.491, as he is expected to, the average tax bill will only rise about 1.1% next year.

2 weeks ago | vermontpublic.org | Lola Duffort |Bob Kinzel

Vermont has a housing crisis, a higher rate of vacant houses than almost anywhere in the country, and a K-12 system in financial trouble. For some, one solution might mitigate all three problems: A heftier tax on second homes. But simply taxing second homes at a higher rate is not so simple, in part because Vermont currently has no system for categorizing vacation homes.

3 weeks ago | vermontpublic.org | Lola Duffort

Labor negotiations are souring in Rutland City schools, where the school board has just rejected the recommendations of an independent fact-finder's report. Board members argue the report was flawed — and unaffordable for taxpayers. The union says the district's teachers are among the lowest-paid in the region. Union president Sue Tanen has been working in Rutland schools for nearly 20 years.

3 weeks ago | nhpr.org | Lola Duffort

Middlebury College said this week that the federal government had terminated the records of one of its students and three alumni from a key database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. A record termination in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, usually indicates a foreign student is no longer permitted to be in the U.S. Middlebury College has shared little about the students in question, their immigration status, or their circumstances.