ABSTRACT
In May 1975, the Vermont State Department of Education concluded a sixteen-month study of school district organization by urging the "orderly and systematic consolidation of all public school districts in Vermont." This report advocated a sweeping reorganization and centralization program that would eliminate all of the existing 274 local public school districts and the 56 supervisory unions in Vermont and replace them with a very small number of new regional units. To most Americans, reference to Vermont evokes an image of rural America: dairy farms, hills and pastures, covered bridges, maple trees and quiet villages. A structure that allows a genuine delegation of authority rather than simply centralizing power may have the twin benefits of heightened effectiveness and greater compatibility with Vermont's independent political traditions. Though less dramatic a reform than reorganization, this decentralization of responsibility and authority could well prove to be a more sensible solution for Vermont's schools.
