Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne has unveiled an ambitious plan to cut per-pupil public school spending in Vermont by a third, and use the savings to pay for the state's young people to attend a Vermont college.
Milne says today's economy demands a comprehensive approach to education from pre-school through higher education. He says he would begin by capping the statewide property tax for the next two years, to address rapidly raising property taxes.
Governor Peter Shumlin's campaign pounced on Milne's plan to cap property taxes, saying it would merely shift growing school costs onto the income tax.
Democrats in the Vermont House, meanwhile, said paying for schools should be shifted away from the property tax and based more on people's ability to pay.
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