Vermont Education Agency Challenges Federal 'High-Risk' Designation, Vows to Close Achievement Gaps
The Vermont Agency of Education on October 8 issued a statement challenging a federal "high-risk" designation on its grants and reaffirming the state's commitment to closing student achievement gaps, according to the agency's news release.
The federal designation stems from long-running compliance disputes with the U.S. Department of Education. In 2024, federal officials put the state's Title I administrative grant on high-risk status and withheld $100,000 — a quarter of a $400,000 allocation — after Vermont failed to identify low-performing schools for targeted support using 2021-22 data. Separately, in July 2026, federal reviewers assigned Vermont's special education program a "needs intervention" status based on 2023-24 data, citing low reading and math proficiency among students with disabilities, low graduation rates and high dropout rates; Vermont last met federal special education requirements in 2018.
In its October 8 statement, the agency disputed the high-risk label and said it is confronting decade-long compliance problems, with special education elevated as a core priority. The statement follows the agency's October 1 release of a statewide strategic plan that sets standardized academic metrics and targets student attendance.
"Vermont has been out of compliance since 2018," Education Secretary Zoie Saunders has said, describing a multiyear effort to rebuild monitoring systems and training. If the "needs intervention" designation persists for two more consecutive years, the federal government could withhold some school funding.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 佛蒙特州议会大厦（蒙彼利埃），图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（CC BY 4.0）
