CAES educators join statewide Friday morning protest of Vermont education reform bill

By Cynthia Prairie
©2025 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The educators are concerned. They say that the proposed state law H 454 to remake Vermont’s public education system, which is to be voted on on Monday in the Vermont Senate, has been rushed and filled with too many holes.

It seeks to reform the governance, the finance system and the structure of public education. Provisions include a new funding system in which the state – rather than local voters – would decide how much schools would receive. It would also create new, larger districts out of the current 119 and set standards for class sizes by grade. This is a moving target as legislators are still working out details on which to vote.

So shortly after 7 a.m. on Friday, before students even began to arrive, about 20 educators, alongside a few parents and students, gathered on Main Street in front of the Chester-Andover Elementary School to protest, in what one organizer called “a show of solidarity.” Many were dressed in red, as in “Red for Ed,” or some shade thereof and held signs showing their disapproval of what could be the state legislature’s passage of the bill on Monday.

They chatted among themselves and waved to the drivers who were passing on their way to jobs elsewhere. A few of those drivers beeped their horns or simply waved back.

The statewide event, organized by Vermont School Workers United, a Vermont network that is attempting to strengthen school workers across the state to defend public education.  By 5 p.m., its social media page indicated that educators at Green Mountain High, in Brattleboro, Craftsbury, Winooski, Plainfield and Hardwick had also participated in the event. An email to the organization was not responded to by deadline.

Mary Bauerband is a Chester resident who is a para at the school, supporting four CAES students who have various special needs including medical and behavioral. She said she was protesting because the legislation was created without lawmakers hearing from those communities that it will directly affect.

The proposed law doesn’t recognize “that the kids who need special assistance really need it,” Bauerband says, adding that the legislation is attempting a “one size fits all system.”

Principal Joey Blane showed her support for the effort by taking photos of the group before heading back to the school to greet the early arriving students.

“I love her,” one educator could be heard remarking as Blane headed down the sidewalk.

Caroline Comley, a special educator at CAES and Springfield resident, says, “My biggest concern is that the bill is rushed. They are trying to push something through without … taking into account property tax relief, health care costs, transportation costs and consolidation problems.”

Comley says she expected to see more action against the bill on Monday, even though legislators already have been flooded with phone calls.

Chester parent Anne Kelley Henshaw also is concerned that the bill is being rushed. “Details are just being thrown together,” she says. “Students receiving special education services are being left till the end of the conversation.” She also expressed concern about the system that allows public education funds to be spent on private schools. “Public funds should be used for public schools,” Henshaw says.

Shortly before 7:30 a.m. Bauerband had to take up the mantle of her other school post and don the yellow reflective vest and handheld STOP sign of the crossing guard. The kids began walking and biking into the school and soon they would be followed by the teachers in their red shirts.