Vermont
State Government
Governor
Phil Scott (R)
State Senate
21
Democrats,
7
Republicans
State House
107
Democrats,
37
Republicans
Housing - Vermont
Home foreclosure rate
1 in 17741
People experiencing homelessness
7,141.0
Households paying more than 50% of income on housing
17,500.0
Percent renters
0.268
Economic well-being - Vermont
Extreme poverty rate
0.04
Food insecurity
0.122
Minimum wage
14.01
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.229
Poverty rate
9.0%
Unemployment rate
2.5
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
4.2
The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, November 05, 2013: (Editorial) As poverty spreads
"Between 2007 and 2012 the rate of childhood poverty rose in Vermont from 12.4 percent to 15 percent. The number of Vermonters on the state's welfare program, called Reach Up, rose by 20 percent. In some school districts as many as half the students qualify for reduced-price lunches, which means they are from low-income families."
Brattleboro Reformer, May 18, 2013: Federal cuts hit local Head Start programs
"The Brattleboro School Board at its meeting this week approved a plan by Early Education Services to cut 25 Head Start classroom slots, and another 12 Early Head Start home-based visiting slots due to the federal cuts that will go into place on July 1. Early Education Services Executive Director Debra Gass said the cuts had to be made after Congress failed to address the sequester earlier this year and the EES budget, which starts on July 1, had to be put in place."
Brattleboro Reformer, April 11, 2013: (Op-Ed) Use and misuse of testing
"Recent events point to the misuse of test results. Both houses of the Tennessee legislature passed a bill to punish the families of low-scoring, low-income public school students by reducing Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (welfare) by 30 percent. This move transforms the purpose of state examinations, from whole school accountability to family retaliation."
The Burlington Free Press, April 03, 2013: New report shows achievement gap in Burlington schools
"A new report documents large differences in academic performance, course participation and discipline actions by race and income in the Burlington School District. The Equity and Inclusion Report released this week also found only slight progress has been made toward district goals to recruit more teachers of color. In a school system where 30 percent of students are non-white, just 4.4 percent of teachers look like them."
Brattleboro Reformer, February 06, 2013: Shumlin pushes childcare, early education reform
"As part of what he calls a very ambitious education agenda,' Gov. Peter Shumlin wants to boost child-care subsidies for lower-income families."
The Burlington Free Press, May 12, 2012: Keep the fun in kindergarten, expert says
"There's more to it, though. Almon's study of the topic leads her to believe that pre-schools and schools serving a high-poverty student population are leading the trend to reduce or eliminate play time. The intentions are good - to beef up academic programming for at risk children. But by pushing concepts before children are ready, it could sour them on learning and backfire, Almon said."