* Judge for Youself

Did a Hartford Meeting I Arranged Scuttle Statewide Teacher Contracts?


"Without that meeting you set up with Dick McCormack,  there would have been a statewide teachers' contract passed in the legislature."
(A retired member of the Hartford High School English Department, 2012)

In the mid 1990's, Governor Howard Dean tried to institute a statewide teachers' contract in Vermont public schools. It looked like he might succeed, and I decided to go into action.

Vermont Governor
Howard Dean

I had been a teacher at Whitcomb High School in Bethel, Vermont and Hartford High School in White River Junction since 1987, and I valued the Vermont tradition of local control of education through school boards negotiating contracts with teachers.

It seemed to me that a statewide contract was too cityfied an idea for the local traditions of Vermont.

One of my students in 9th grade English at Whitcomb High in 1987 had been the son of state senator Dick McCormack.

State Senator
 Dick McCormack

I decided on the basis  of that experience to call Dick and ask him if he would be willing to speak to a meeting of concerned members of the Hartford  community if I arranged to hold such a meeting about the proposed statewide contract. 

McCormack was on the legislature's Education Committee. He readily agreed to meet with us and a date was set.

The meeting took place at night in the Hartford High School Library. The Superintendent of Schools, Carl Mock, attended, as did the Principal of Hartford High and some members of the Board of Education.  Many teachers and community members also attended along with students.

Folks spoke passionately about preserving the tradition of local control, including our Superintendent, Carl Mock.

After the meeting, I walked Dick to the door and asked him to consider the sincerity of the speakers who wanted to preserve Vermont's tradition of local control. He promised he would give it serious consideration.

A few weeks later, when the Education Committee voted on the matter, Dick McCormack's vote was the tie-breaker.

Statewide teacher contracts were voted down and local control would continue to be a hallmark of Vermont's public education system.

One of my colleagues in the English Department at Hartford High (now retired) claims that without that meeting of Senator McCormack with concerned members of the Hartford community, teachers in Vermont would today be employees of the state, not the local government.

You can judge for yourselves.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Keane




*Cost/Benefit Analysis of a Statewide Teacher Contract
Submitted by the Department of Administration
Pursuant to Chapter 376 of the Public Laws of 2003 - Article 9, Section 10
Report Submitted to the General Assembly
May 12, 2004