All across the country, it seems like a given: Places with more expensive houses have nicer schools because they can raise more money. That’s just how education seems to work.
Except in Vermont.
Two decades ago, the state passed a radical law that aimed to equalize education funding.
The law (and subsequent tweaks) made it much easier for towns with regular houses to raise money for their schools — almost as easy as it was for towns with expensive vacation homes. That’s because the Vermont funding model asks rich towns to pay higher taxes to subsidize the schools in less affluent places.
On this episode of The Impact, we’ll tell you how this model came about.
It’s the story of one woman named Carol Brigham, her young daughter Amanda, and their fight to save the tiny school that is the heart of their small Vermont town.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62386596/IMG_1636.0.jpg)
