Educational Freedom

Local control is practically lost in Vermont today. The current school funding mechanism has disconnected the taxpayer from their local budget. Local school revenues are now based on a per pupil reimbursement from the state. This is done through a complex formula that practically no one can explain. Dexter will strive to restore local control and a comprehensible school tax system.

Dexter is a proponent for school choice. Our educational system should provide for a greater amount of flexibility and mobility for students to obtain their education within our society. We should allow homeschooling, vouchers for private school, the ability to attend schools outside of the school district, and other educational choices.

Higher education costs are of a particular concern to Dexter. The federal subsidies to colleges and universities are unnaturally inflating the cost of education. Educators are selected based on their ability to win research and infrastructure grants rather than their ability as teachers. Government grants offset operating costs of the universities without a corresponding reduction in tuition fees. The result is the tuition fees increased to what the market would bear and the government's response is to provide financial assistance to students. Student loans are the vehicle that delivers a piece of the higher education market pie to the financial sector. The continuing ratcheting up of these subsidies and costs is a cause of these higher tuition fees. Vermont needs an innovative approach to higher education that will free higher educational students of the shackles of a corrupt financial system.