佛蒙特州教育厅质疑联邦“高风险”认定，重申缩小成绩差距承诺
据佛蒙特州教育厅10月8日发布的新闻稿，该厅当天发表声明，对联邦政府给予其拨款的“高风险”认定提出质疑，并重申缩小学生成绩差距的承诺。
联邦“高风险”认定源于与联邦教育部长期存在的合规争议。2024年，联邦官员将该州Title I项目行政拨款列为“高风险”，并扣留了10万美元——相当于40万美元拨款中的四分之一，原因是佛蒙特州未能按要求利用2021-22学年数据认定需要定向帮扶的低表现学校。此外，2026年7月，联邦审查将佛蒙特州特殊教育项目定为“需要干预”级别，依据是2023-24学年数据：残障学生阅读和数学 proficiency 偏低、毕业率低、辍学率高；该州上一次达到联邦特殊教育要求还是在2018年。
州教育厅在10月8日的声明中反驳了“高风险”标签，表示正在着手解决长达十年的合规问题，并将特殊教育列为核心优先事项。此前，该厅于10月1日发布了全州战略计划，统一学业衡量标准并着力改善学生出勤率。
州教育厅长佐伊·桑德斯曾表示：“佛蒙特州自2018年以来一直不合规，”并称该厅正在推进一项多年计划，重建监测体系和培训。如果“需要干预”认定再持续两年，联邦政府可能扣留部分学校拨款。
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.
图片来源：佛蒙特州议会大厦（蒙彼利埃），图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（CC BY 4.0）
