Under Vermont's Title 16, districts that do not have a public school provide tuition to students to attend a public or nonsectarian private school of choice. The "nonsectarian" provision of the law has been the source of much debate since 1961, when the Vermont Supreme Court ruled in Swart v. South Burlington Town School District that using state tuitioning money to send students to religious schools violated the U.S. Constitution's Establishment Clause.[1] In 1994, the Vermont Supreme Court overturned the decision in Campbell v. Manchester Board of School Directors, allowing tuitioning students to resume attendance at religious schools.[2] Five years later, the court overturned its own ruling once again in Chittenden Town School District v. Vermont Department of Education.[3] Chittenden students were using their state-funded tuition money to attend Mount St. Joseph's Academy in Rutland, and the court ruled that this violated the state constitution's "compelled support" clause.[4] On December 13, 1999, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear an appeal.[5]

Legislation was introduced in 1997 to permit merit pay for teachers, school choice, and the formation of charter schools. House 393 would have authorized the creation of "educational freedom districts" allowing "full parental choice" to choose charter, alternative, independent, or parochial schools.[6] Another bill, H. 364, would have created a system of vouchers that students could have used to attend nonsectarian or religious schools. Both bills died in committee.[7]

In 1999, a Vermont Public Radio-Macro poll revealed that 55 percent of survey respondents wanted parents to be able to use state funds to send their children to religious schools, while 34 percent did not.[8]

Vermont has a limited school choice law for districts with public high schools. On May 24, 2000, then-Governor Howard Dean signed Act 150.[9] Under this legislation, beginning in 2002-2003, high school students could transfer to another public school with the approval of both the sending and receiving districts. During the 2002-2003 school year, boards could limit the transfer to no more than 3 percent of a school or six students. After 2003, the limit will increase to 5 percent of a school's enrollment or 10 students.[10]

In the 1999-2000 school year, Vermont Student Opportunity Scholarships began offering privately funded scholarships worth up to half of tuition costs or $2,000 for use toward tuition in either a public school or a private school. SOS awarded 136 scholarships for the 1999-2000 school year.[11]

Legislation that would have created a pilot voucher program was introduced in 2001. H. 468 would have created a program in three counties--Orleans, Rutland, and Caledonia--where district vouchers would allow students to attend a school of choice, including religious schools. Vouchers given to students in towns that have a public school would have been capped at $2,000.[12] The bill died in committee.[13]

In 2001, charter school legislation was introduced. H. 174 would have allowed the Vermont State Board of Education to grant 15 charters. The bill would have allowed for both the creation of new schools and the conversion of public schools. The Commissioner of Education would have been given $500,000 to allot to charters for "initial start-up costs." H. 174 died in the House Education Committee.[14]

Tax-credit legislation, H. 342, was introduced in 2001. Under this legislation, individuals would have been able to receive a tax credit on 50 percent of their donation to scholarship organizations. The bill died in the House Ways and Means Committee.[15]

A voucher bill, S. 227, was introduced in 2002 to create vouchers worth 50 percent of public schools' per-pupil costs. Students would have been allowed to use the vouchers for tuition at a public, private, or religious school. The bill also included a provision for home-school students, granting elementary students a voucher worth $500 and high school students a voucher worth $1,000. The bill died in the Senate Education Committee.[16]

Then-State Representative Neil Randall (R-Orange) introduced H. 703, which would have eased restrictions on home-school families. Under current law, the Vermont Department of Education must respond to a parent's declaration to homeschool within 45 days. If the department does not respond or requests a hearing, home-school programs could be delayed. Representative Randall's bill would have made home-school programs operative as soon as parents filed an enrollment notice. H. 703 died in the House Education Committee.[17]

H. 716 would have allowed students to transfer to any public school if space was available. If sufficient space was not available, schools could have used a lottery to determine transfers.[18] The bill cleared the House by a vote of 72 to 67 but died in the Senate with a tie vote of 14 to 14.[19]

Under Act 150, a limited number of high school students were given the option to transfer to another public school. State officials reported 254 transfers during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. Due to restrictions on the number of allowable transfers, a maximum of 450 students statewide could have changed schools.[20]

Several school choice bills were introduced in 2003. H. 392 would require districts that have public schools to provide vouchers worth up to $1,000 for students to attend a school of choice, including religious schools.[21] State Representative Nancy Sheltra (R-Derby) introduced H. 391 (similar to H. 468 from 2001), which would create a pilot voucher program in Orleans, Rutland, and Caledonia counties. The program would be subject to approval by the voters of a district, and vouchers would be capped at $2,000 for those districts that operate public schools.[22] H. 262 would allow school boards to choose to reimburse parents who send their children to religious private schools. No action was taken on the bills prior to adjournment.[23]

H. 57 was introduced to create a voucher system for students with disabilities. Special-education students who are not meeting goals set in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) would be given vouchers worth the cost of tuition at a school of choice or the state's block grant allotment, whichever is less. The bill died committee.[24]

Two tax credit bills were introduced in 2003 but did not receive any action. H. 198 would allow individuals or corporations to claim a tax credit on 50 percent of a donation to a scholarship organization.[25] H. 235 would allow home-school families to claim a tax credit on expenditures for educational materials up to $500.[26]

State Representative Frank M. Mazur (R-South Burlington) introduced H. 77, which would create a charter law. Under this legislation, town, city, or district school boards and state colleges and the University of Vermont would be granted chartering authority. The charters could be granted to individuals, groups, businesses, or colleges for up to five years. The Commissioner of Education would appropriate $500,000 to use for start-up grants to charter schools. The bill was referred to the House Education Committee.[27]

S. 121 would allow parents to send their child to any public school in the state, and sending districts would pay 90 percent of state per-pupil grants. S. 121 referred to the Senate Education Committee, but received no further action in 2003.[28]

On March 23, 2003, a Chittenden resident filed suit against the state of Vermont regarding its tuitioning policy. The resident, Dr. Blane Nasveschuk, had paid to send his sons to Mount St. Joseph's Academy in Chittenden, a tuitioning town. Dr. Naveschuk has joined two other families who live in tuitioning towns but must pay out of pocket for their choice schools because the schools are religious. The Institute for Justice represented the families.[29]

In October, the Vermont Anti-Racism Action Team, a state anti-racism group, approved a resolution asking state legislators to enact broader school choice provisions. The group says that if school choice options were available to more students, those who find themselves victims of racist acts would find recourse in the ability to transfer to another school.[30]

S. 53 was introduced in March 2003 to create a charter school law for the state. School boards, state colleges, or the University of Vermont would be given chartering authority, and $500,000 would have been appropriated to help charters with start-up funds. The bill stalled in the Education Committee.[31]

In 2004, H. 521 was introduced to provide full public and private school choice for Vermont families. Under the bill, students could attend any public school in the state that had capacity. Parents could also choose from among private schools using a voucher worth $2,500 for grades K-8 and $5,000 for high school grades. Home-school families would receive $500 for grades K-8 and $1,000 for grades 9-12. The bill died in committee.[32]

A public school choice bill, H. 511, was introduced to provide statewide open enrollment. Under the bill, a parent could choose any public school in the state. If a school received more applications than it had seats, it would hold a lottery. Additionally, a school could refuse to allow more than 5 percent of its students to leave. The bill failed on a 48-92 vote in committee on April 8, 2004.[33]

The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation released a scorecard rating school choice programs around the nation in March, and the report rated Vermont's tuitioning program fourth. The program received high marks for not imposing academic or income restrictions and for awarding vouchers that are comparable to the state's average per-pupil expenditure. However, the report was critical of the program's restrictions on student and school participation.[34]

In March 2004 the Institute for Justice withdrew its lawsuit against the state of Vermont that sought the inclusion of religious schools in the state's tuitioning program. IJ's clients took their children out of the religious schools they were attending and transferred them to public schools.[35]