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A push by the State Board of Education to expand the special-education obligations of independent schools across Vermont has earned it some new enemies in Montpelier, and proposed legislation that would strip the 11-person panel of its century-old role in setting education policy.

As Vermont’s governor and Legislature fast-track legislation designed to limit the scale of cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, state officials are seeking federal funding designated to “strengthen partnerships [that U.S. Border Patrol has] with local law enforcement agencies while increasing border awareness and intelligence.”

Ask a roomful of Vermonters to explain school choice and you will probably get several different answers depending on where they're from. If they hail from two different school choice or "tuitioning" towns, they could have varying rules. And if they come from a town without school choice, they might not even understand what you're talking about.

NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman covers the military and Defense Department, and has reported from Afghanistan and Iraq for the network. Bowman is also an alum of Saint Michael's College, and he's been working with the college to encourage more veterans to attend.

Last year, about $43 million in public money was spent on private schools by families using school choice in Vermont. Now, the State Board of Education says it wants more oversight on how Vermont's independent schools are using public funds.

There was some drama in Montpelier Wednesday morning as lawmakers prepared to launch a two-day recount process for the results of the November vote on the representatives for the Orange -1 district.

Switchback Brewing, with a thirty thousand barrel production capacity and 30 employees now joins half a dozen other breweries around the country that have established ESOPs - or Employee Stock Ownership Plans. More than six thousand other U.S. firms are now ESOPs, with a total employment of more than fourteen million workers.

For more than 200 years, Vermonters have come together on or around the first Tuesday in March to elect local officials, vote on budgets and discuss the important issues of our time.

You know the story of Malala Yousafzai , a Pakistani girl who was almost assassinated for advocating for girls' education, and who later won a Nobel Peace Prize for efforts. But a new book by Vermont writer reminds us there are millions of Malalas in the world, and the barriers to their education are profound. On the next Vermont Edition we talk with Tanya Lee Stone about her book, Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl A Time , which explores the impact that girls' education in developing

The new owners of the Hardwick Gazette plan to continue the paper's focus on local events, and take their cues from their readers.

The State Board of Education is proposing some controversial new rules, which some private school advocates say threaten the very existence of some of these schools. And one of the big issues of contention is special education.

Recently, I went to a performance in Burlington by Lewis Black, the comedian from The Daily Show known for an onstage delivery filled with agitation and outrage.

Vermont has many national treasures living quietly among us, and one of them is Addison County resident Eli Clare. His latest book, Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure , is revelatory, a clarion call for changing the medicalized disability narrative of defective brokenness. A transgendered man living with cerebral palsy, his insights challenge existing notions of what is “normal and natural” as he affirms, “There’s nothing wrong with our disabled body-minds.”

Some people in the U.S. who are worried about changes in policy are making their way to the Canadian border to seek asylum. And they've had to cross the border into Canada illegally.

Vermont Representative Peter Welch says he will fight against President Trump's executive actions on immigration in Washington. We'll ask him what actions he plans to take, and we'll talk about his other priorities going forward in a deeply divided Congress.