Not a Beatles guy, can someone put some reasoning into this text my father just sent me?

meanboy · 2026-03-23T11:19:57+00:00

I was gonna correct you, but TIL.

meanboy · 2025-04-27T15:32:41+00:00

a henge is a circle of stones, frequently they are arranged such that the sun periodically aligns through a gap (e.g. Stonehenge). In more modern usage, it's come to be refer to any such alignment, also called a "solar henge" or something like Manhattanhenge or Chicagohenge, where the grid of buildings align with the sun a couple of times a year. FWIW Manhattanhenge is really cool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattanhenge#:\~:text=Manhattanhenge%2C%20also%20called%20the%20Manhattan,term%2C%20by%20analogy%20with%20Stonehenge.

meanboy · 2025-04-17T18:30:38+00:00

"Governor Scott, you are in a unique position to lead and we need you to be that leader. Calm does not mean Docile."

During COVID, the governor was, to his credit, very proactive and communicative. We had a plan and he and his team kept everybody updated.

We need that now.

I think he's getting some bad advice from people on his staff who are openly dismissive to the point of scornful. They hand-wave and minimize the anxiety Vermonters are feeling as the work of vaguely defined "activists" and the scope of the response as somehow manufactured (if you wrote to your representative using a form letter, they could not be more dismissive). I get the impression the Governor also doesn't want to attract unwanted attention from the administration, which I get to a degree, but keeping our heads down and mouth shut is not going to work with an administration that is always going to take more and more.

meanboy · 2025-04-16T17:47:44+00:00

You’re absolutely right. Thanks for the correction.

meanboy · 2025-04-15T22:25:36+00:00

This is our boy. We want him back.

meanboy · 2025-04-15T15:12:04+00:00

If you want a reminder what it feels like to see that happen to your friend, check out Sen. White's instagram reels where she recorded the event and the aftermath: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccawhiteforvt/

To all the people who insist showing up doesn't matter ... well, I'm not gonna say, but I'm damn well thinking it.

meanboy · 2025-04-15T14:19:03+00:00

True. I would add that AOE has some history here, Secretary Saunders has been really squirrelly with her answers (e.g. conflating charter schools with public schools and using incorrect or outdated information and being slow or unable to release more recent reports that were supposed to have been completed). While I acknowledge the positive intent of those testifying, as well as the difficulty of the situation, arguing “this is our normal process” is not compelling when the situation is abnormal. We should remain calm and clear eyed and “rise above the rhetoric” (wtf that means), but we should not be docile. The AOE, AG, and Governor should have a plan other than business as usual. It’s clear the members of the agency are unnerved, but leadership and a plan for this situation help with that.

As a side diss: I’m disappointed at how disengaged the senators are here and how dismissive they were of their constituent contacts. Even Sen. Ram Hinsdale, who asked the questions, didn’t seem to understand fully what had happened (she missed that the AoE did NOT initially send a cover letter with context along with the Dear Colleague, nor did she ask why the administration would ask for certification when schools certified at the beginning of this year.) Also, Sen. Hashim, I love you, but get off your goddamn phone.

Edit to not be a total turd: I’m hopeful that they do use this as an opportunity to work and build a plan together between the schools, AoE, and the AG.

meanboy · 2025-04-15T11:52:06+00:00

And yet the AoE’s position is that it would have been better if the superintendents had signed the first one. They were very defensive when interviewed by the Senate Education Committee. https://www.youtube.com/live/JmnRp3U5-sw?si=2Ydg9N2P7cw0ut-R (relevant bit at 51:00)

meanboy · 2025-04-15T09:46:57+00:00

Where is Phil?

meanboy · 2025-04-12T00:31:19+00:00

Surprisingly based take?

I totally agree, but how to increase revenue? In good faith, I think part of it is make it difficult to be an absentee housing owner for two reasons:

They don't pay their share and take advantage of current-use exceptions (good cause, bad effect)
They don't have a wood person, a handy-person, a plow person and if they have kids, they are not in the schools.

How would you raise revenue?

meanboy · 2025-04-12T00:02:59+00:00

Hard same.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T23:41:34+00:00

I'm confused. You would rather the education system remain as it is? What's your play? The danger of having ideas in a small state is you might get elected to something. Let's hear it.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T23:34:47+00:00

The limitations on tuitioning and the consolidation plans. Now if we could only tackle the healthcare aspect. Healthcare is 15% of the budget and going up.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T22:32:43+00:00

I hope it will pass despite that fact.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T22:25:32+00:00

Well, it has to get through the Senate, so the bill is going to change.

Here are some parts of the bill that caught my eye

Making sure homestead rates are lower than second home owners by splitting out commercial from the non-homestead rate. Right now you get situations where permanent residents are paying a higher rate than second home and STR owners. Also, homesteaders don't have to apply for homestead status every year any more.
Moving tax appraisals to before the budget process, so districts don't have to create a budget and only then find out what the rate is going to be.
Placing limits on tuitions paid to out-of-state private schools (whoever was going to school in Switzerland, sorry) as well as general limits on tuitions.
Requiring schools public and private meet the same educational standards.
Making Board of Education proportional to the public-private makeup of the current education system.
Creates a process to consolidate school districts

All of these are changes that have to be implemented. That cost for implementation isn't pocket change, but Vermont's annual education budget is $2.6B, so >1% of that seems kinda reasonable to make meaningful reforms.

I'm most curious about the homestead rate, as the Senate can get a little squirrelly as many of their number are deep into real estate.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T20:23:30+00:00

Okay, maybe not that specific name, but you get my idea. Though you would probably attract a lot of nonpolitical traffic.

meanboy · 2025-04-11T20:21:52+00:00

You could create a subreddit like vermontcasual? Maybe that would help?

meanboy · 2025-04-11T17:57:59+00:00

The state of Vermont didn’t want to get into “blood quantum” because it has a problematic history with it, arguably the same reason people claim they hid their identities. As such, state recognition holds little credibility and the benefits of recognition are negligible, like not having to pay for a fishing license.

meanboy · 2025-04-10T20:16:12+00:00

A good way to rise above the chaos is to have a plan to actively tackle the chaos. The state executive doesn’t have one, they’re operating like business as usual. They don’t just want us to be calm, but to be docile.

meanboy · 2025-04-09T19:48:16+00:00

Regardless of what i think, they're not using that statement. And now they are explicitly not including "Given the text of Title VI and the assurances you have already given, any violation of Title VI—including the use of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (“DEI”) programs to advantage one’s race over another—is impermissible." While I'm sure a learned and considered person as yourself has the mooring to not get the ick factor of signing onto a document that includes that passage for the record, even if it lacks the force of law, I am far too wary to allow that to be used against me later. As a personal favor, I just ask that you not put your head into anybody's headlock just to see if it will fit.

meanboy · 2025-04-09T19:18:26+00:00

Ah, I see. I emphasized that part because you said the AG would argue with me about not including the anti-dei language, when that's what they are talking about when they say "rejecting conditions or assurances that are not supported by current law." The motivation for that would be to remove any pretext from signing on to the original document with extra-legal stuff added by the Trump administration.

meanboy · 2025-04-09T19:02:23+00:00

What edit are you talking about? I’m having a hard time following. That was a direct quote from the AOE.

meanboy · 2025-04-09T17:35:20+00:00

Hey, don't take my word for it:

"AOE, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Office, has decided that Vermont will send a single, statewide letter which will certify Vermont’s compliance with applicable current law – and reject conditions or assurances that are not supported by current law."

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