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Their new plan to impose spending caps on school budgets might help accomplish that goal

The cap means officials could not present to voters any budget plan that resulted in a more than 2 percent increase in per-pupil costs. And it’s this language that teachers object to the most. Allen says it’s a blunt policy instrument that will inflict serious harm on public schools.

If a vote for a community exceeds 2 percent per pupil in expenditures, it’s deemed to have failed,” Sharpe says

But the most contentious provision in the bill calls for a hard cap on per-pupil spending increases.

But even diehard proponents of education funding reform say the House Education Committee’s approach could do more harm than good.

“It’s unfortunate, taking away more authority from local school boards and local decision makers and local voters,” Scheuermann says.

The House Committee on Ways and Means will d

bate the proposed spending cap when lawmakers return to Montpelier next week. Sh

arpe says the version of the cap in the education committee’s bill is admittedly flawed, insofar as it fails to recognize various factors that might make a per-pupil spending increases of more than 2 percent necessary for some districts.