OPINION: Give students a seat at the table

April 9, 2025  |  By Cashel Higgins 

Vermont is a proud state, for good reason. We deserve to be proud of our billboard-free roads, rugged ski slopes, and nationwide reputation for kindness. Still, we have aspects that that require reform. 

Housing in Vermont has long been unaffordable, and for what feels like forever, we’ve wrestled with how to attract more residents and create more jobs. But this year, the primary concern of citizens across the state – and therefore the central focus of our lawmakers – is education.

Gov. Phil Scott and the Agency of Education, now led by newly confirmed Secretary Zoie Saunders, have introduced a plan that would fundamentally change how education is governed in Vermont. It’s an ambitious vision – one that has stirred strong and passionate responses throughout the state.

The Vermont Legislature, the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, the State Board of Education, the Vermont Superintendents Association, and every school board in the state have spent countless hours dissecting, adjusting, and debating this proposal in pursuit of a solution to the challenges Vermonters face.

These groups are tasked with making big decisions every day. But we must ask: who are these decisions for?

They are not just for buildings. Not solely for taxpayers. And certainly not only for government agencies.

These decisions are about students.

If this proposal is truly intended to serve the students of Vermont, then students must be vigorously included in its creation.

That is why we, the students, ask – respectfully, but firmly – for a seat at the table.

Engaging students and actively including them in the shaping of this proposal will infuse the policy with firsthand insight while offering students an experience in real civic engagement and leadership. On a scale this large, Vermont has a rare opportunity to empower thousands of young voices to shape the future of their education system.

One of the most important things a person can learn early in life is the value of public institutions. Right now, our federal government is being ransacked by people whose grievances and anger began with distrust. By authentically involving students in this moment of transformation, Vermont can instill in the next generation not blind faith, but a reasoned belief in the promise of public institutions. By giving young people an opportunity to reform the system they participate in, you teach them to be participants in shaping their world, not just critics of it.

There are many ways to include students. Here are just a few to start:

We ask that both education committees in the legislature host multiple day-long events to gather student testimony. 

We ask that the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont make a vigorous, statewide effort to inform students and collect their input.

The Agency of Education’s Youth Policy Advisory Council is a start, but it has limitations. Some students naturally find their voice and know how to use it. For others, it takes encouragement and opportunity. Any genuine effort to include and empower student voice must sink deep into our student population.

Like the governor’s proposal as a whole, we do not believe this work can be rushed to meet a May 9 deadline, or even a July one.

By energetically pursuing student engagement in the next steps toward the future of public education, lawmakers can pave the way for a more inclusive and informed Vermont.

We want to help you make an education system Vermont can be proud of.

Now, please – ask us to.

Harwood Union High School junior Cashel Higgins from Waterbury is a student member of the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board and a member of the Vermont Agency of Education’s Youth Policy Advisory Council. He’s also a legislative intern in the Vermont House and secretary of the Vermont Young Democrats.