I read with interest the article in the most recent Weekend Valley News about the Friends of Vermont Public Education (“Group defends public schools”; June 15). I am a member of this group, and the article correctly points out that Vermont is going through a complex reckoning of how the state pays to educate our children. The amount of money the state now sends to private and religious schools has a significant impact on the cost and quality of public education. For this reason, the Friends are advocating for legislation that would restrict public money from going to private schools.

Gov. Phil Scott’s office is quoted in the article stating that “a change on this front would have a negligible impact on the cost pressures our system is facing.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The example below clearly shows that simply passing legislation that requires that public money be spent on public education would do three things: It would increase the quality of public education; it would reduce property taxes; and it would be consistent with our state’s Constitution.

Vermont’s White River Valley is a microcosm of the state. In the White River Valley, there is a 10-town supervisory union. Four towns in the supervisory union went through the painful process of closing their high schools. Bethel and Royalton combined their resources and formed the pre-K-to-12 White River Valley Unified School District, which has a high school in Royalton and a middle school in Bethel. The merger has gone well. The other eight towns in the supervisory union have school choice for some or all grades and pay tuition for their students.

There is a private school for grades seven to 12 located six miles down Route 14 from White River Valley High School. Based on information on its website, this private school has approximately 150 students and they are 85% publicly funded. This means that this private school receives well over $2 million of public money every year.

Now consider what would happen if the state passed legislation that limits tuition payments to public schools. Eight of the towns in the White River Valley Supervisory Union would still have school choice, but families would need to choose a public school. The private school six miles down the road would no longer be eligible for public money.

Based on geographic proximity, it is reasonable to assume that at least half of the students going to the private school would choose to enroll in the White River Valley schools. When that happens the revenue for the White River Valley schools would increase by over a million dollars every year. Enrollments would go up; revenue would go up and property taxes would go down. The White River Valley High School aspires to build a performing arts center. This additional annual revenue could make the performing arts center a reality and the quality of education would go up for many students.

If the Scott administration truly believes that restricting public money from going to private schools would have “negligible impact on the cost pressures our system is facing” then they need to do a reality check. As the above example demonstrates, simply restricting public money to public schools would have a profound effect on the quality and cost of public education.

Gov. Scott does not have a plan for affordable public education and as long as the taxpayers are being forced to support out-of-state prep schools, private schools without certified teachers and religious schools that openly discriminate, we are going to continue to be crushed by our property taxes.

This is an election year in Vermont and the issue of funding for public education needs to be addressed. The state would be well advised to look at our state’s Constitution for guidance here. The only government service mentioned in the state’s Constitution is education and the Common Benefit Clause and the Compelled Support Clause gives us further guidance. Given that education is a common benefit and money for education is a common benefit, it is difficult to reconcile how the state can give public money to private schools. Also, forcing taxpayers to support religious schools is a clear violation of the Compelled Support Clause of our state’s Constitution.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of our state’s Constitution, we need to rededicate ourselves to the document’s Education, Common Benefit, and Compelled Support clauses. During the summer of 1777 while Vermonters were drafting our Constitution in Windsor, they were also fighting for our independence at Ticonderoga, Hubbardton and Bennington. Our Constitution represents rights that the framers were willing to fight and die for, and we need to protect these rights and defend our public education system from those who are pursuing their own political agendas.

Vermont’s system for funding education needs mending, the governor does not have a plan to fix the problem, and in the meantime the taxpayers and our students are paying the price. I urge everyone interested in controlling the cost of public education to be active during this political season. If we follow our state’s Constitution and stop sending public money to private schools, we would at least be moving in the right direction.

G. Gregory Hughes is a former member of the Bethel School Board and is on the steering committee of the Friends of Vermont Public Education.