Don’t blame immigrant students for rising education costs

This commentary is by Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver, a teacher at Winooski High School. She is the 2025 Vermont Teacher of the Year and the 2026 Vermont History Teacher of the Year. 

In the WCAX debate on Oct. 28, Gov. Phil Scott incorrectly claimed that the Winooski School District offers 17 languages, unlike smaller, more rural districts that may offer only one or two. 

This is false. Winooski offers one language, French. Elementary school students have no language opportunities, middle school students take French for one quarter, and high school students are offered French I or French II. 

When Scott claims that Winooski offers 17 languages, it is not just a curriculum mistake. It is a remark that serves to pit our rural, largely white communities against our more urban, more diverse communities.  

This misinformation fuels anti-immigrant, xenophobic thinking that hurts our students, our families and our communities. Collectively, our student body does speak at least 17 languages. At Winooski, we view their languages as our greatest asset. We honor students’ strengths, recognize the value of their languages and celebrate both their languages and cultural backgrounds, experiences and heritage. It is well documented that speaking more than one language has many benefits, from helping promote healthy aging to improved mental agility. Our students’ languages are their superpowers, and at Winooski, we actively celebrate this diversity. 

Scott’s comment distracts us from the underlying causes of our high education costs. Instead of thinking creatively about reducing healthcare costs for teachers — as S.190 would have done, which Scott vetoed — or moving mental healthcare funding out of the education budget to the Department of Mental Health, his comment implies that the funding problem in our state lies with our immigrant students. 

Nothing could be farther from the truth. 

But sadly, this rhetoric and mindset catch on quickly. Many districts across our state are facing dire financial realities this budget season. When the governor adds misinformation to an already difficult situation, it escalates tensions between communities and distracts people from the true causes of our financial woes. We will not be guilty of blaming our most vulnerable community rather than directing responsibility at our 10-year incumbent governor or lawmakers. Scott has often tried to distance himself from the MAGA right, but comments like this demonstrate that he is using the same playbook. 

In his response to the Winooski superintendent, Scott apologized, said he misspoke and added that he was not trying to pit communities against each other, but aiming to call attention to discrepancies in educational opportunities across our state. Governor, if you don’t want to pit communities against each other, I suggest not falsely calling out our only majority-minority district in the state, and if you aim to highlight different educational opportunities, do so with the correct information. 

Subsequently, in my civics class, we watched this segment of the debate. It is a reminder to the governor that our students are always listening and always watching. They deserve a public apology. 

Vermonters, we will not be fooled by this anti-immigrant language. We have real problems in how we fund our schools, but we will not blame our greatest asset: our students.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Don’t blame immigrant students for rising education costs.