Final Education Debate to be Held at Statehouse in Montpelier

Montpelier, VT—The Ethan Allen Institute (EAI) and the Public Assets Institute (PAI) will face off at the Vermont State House on Tuesday, February 18 in the last of a three-debate series on the proper role of government in education. Moderated by Kristin Carlson, formerly the senior political reporter for WCAX and currently the Director of Media for Green Mountain Power, the hour and a half-long debate will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Room 11.

The majority of Vermont communities operate public schools. However, in 93 towns—a little more than a third—residents have chosen not to operate their own schools but instead pay tuition to allow students to go to any school of their choosing—private or public. “School choice” advocates see this 150-year-old practice of allowing communities to tuition their students as a model for the country. Supporters of the public school system maintain that local schools provide the foundation of our communities and our democracy.

These points of view will be debated by representatives of two of Vermont’s leading think tanks. Ethan Allen Institute president Rob Roper and Rick Gordon, Director of the Compass School in Westminster will argue the case for the publicly funded independent school model for providing education. Public Assets Institute president Paul Cillo and Bill Mathis of the National Education Policy Center will make the case for the public school system.

The first debate in this series was at Lyndon State College in December. The second debate was in Manchester Center in January. These debates, made possible by a generous grant from the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, are free and open to the public.

Contacts:

Rob Roper for Ethan Allen Institute

802-999-8145, rob@ethanallen.org

Paul Cillo for Public Assets Institute

802-223-6677, paul@publicassets.org

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