Not that anyone gave a tinker’s cuss, but last month the Commission on the Future of Public Education issued its final report (downloadable here, scroll down to December 15). The subtly expressed message: a rebuke of Act 73 and the reform process being pursued by Gov. Phil Scott and legislative leaders.

On an alternate Planet Earth, the Commission’s report would have been widely discussed. It would have served as the basis for a wide-ranging transformation of Vermont’s public education system.

But we don’t live on that Earth. We live on the one where the Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, created the Commission one year… and then smashed a pillow over its face the following year.

Refresher: The Legislature established the Commission in 2024 and gave it a full year and a half to comprehensively review the public education system and produce a plan addressing all aspects of the situation. The Commission buried itself in the work, gathering information, holding public hearings, conducting a survey, and consulting with experts and those involved in public education. Then in 2025, legislative leaders followed the lead of the governor, who demanded an immediate, dramatic restructuring of the system in an effort to rein in costs. They passed Act 73, which dramatically diminished the Commission’s remit, created a new high-profile panel, and ordered that body to complete its work in six months’ time.

They could have had an all-encompassing plan in the identical time frame. They could have gone into the 2026 session with a blueprint that addressed educational quality, opportunity, governance and cost. Instead, their substitute task force concluded that its much narrower mandate couldn’t be accomplished in the time allotted and threw the problem right back in the Legislature’s lap. And, as Vermont Public’s Peter Hirschfeld reported this week, Act 73 faces an “uncertain future” because it “may no longer be politically viable.”

Tell me, which scenario would be better? Two guesses, and the first don’t count.

You know, if I were a distinguished Vermonter (no snickering from the back row, please) and the Legislature wanted to put me on a commission or task force or blue-ribbon la-dee-dah, I would tell them to stick their nomination where the sun don’t shine. Because more often than not, those high-profile panels give their best effort only to see it tossed onto a dusty shelf somewhere, thank you so much for your service.

The Commission delivered its report on December 15. No one took any notice. I saw no news coverage at all because everybody knew it was D.O.A. I only spotted it about two weeks later when I was scanning the annual end-of-year deluge of reports to the Legislature. And you know what? I actually read the damn thing.

The people who get appointed to these accursed panels are polite, measured. They know their place and they respect their political superiors. They’re not going to come right out and give the Legislature a middle-finger salute, warranted or otherwise. But the Commission’s report comes about as close to an impolite response as you’re ever going to see.

The most consistent message: the Commission strongly believes in “as much opportunity for citizen participation as possible” in any reform effort. This, at a time when Act 73 sets the stage for a top-down reorganization with wide-ranging, poorly understood consequences. (Including, say it again, no guarantee of any cost savings at all.) The Commission, on the other hand, urges “maximizing authentic community engagement.”

If there is to be a school closure process, the Commission wants as much grassroots involvement as possible: a process that lasts at least 18 months that includes multiple public meetings and an advisory vote or survey of affected communities, a final balloting that requires a “majority vote of the entire school district.” If the voters say yes, the Commission recommends an appeal process that’s engaged if at least five percent of voters sign a petition. Gee, sounds like it’d be a lot slower and more politically fraught than what the governor wants.

The Commission’s work included a survey of Vermonters, who “overwhelmingly” felt that the education reform process “was too rushed and disorganized, and that “education reform efforts must slow down and center the voices of those most impacted by the proposed changes.”

And that survey was conducted before the Legislature’s mad dash to approve Act 73 in the closing days of the 2025 session. Maybe we can see why so many Vermonters are perplexed, confused, and angry over Our Betters’ handling of the process. And, indeed, why it can fairly be said that Act 73 “may no longer be politically viable.”

“I hate to say I told you so,” a less mature Commission might have written, “but I told you so.”

Still, here we are with Our Betters bound and determined to rush through some kind of reform plan, any kind of reform plan. The Commission’s conclusion serves as a final warning:

Vermonters care deeply about public education and local control. In order for a major change to be successful, a critical mass of Vermont citizens must be supportive of that change… It is important to take the time to get it right as opposed to just getting it done.

Amen to that. Is anybody listening?