Tom McKone: Deteriorating schools need attention and funding

This commentary is by Tom McKone of Montpelier. The build-up to Town Meeting Day and the record failure of 30 school budgets have overshadowed an earlier, stunning report that has received only modest coverage: Vermont faces at least $6.3 billion in school construction costs over the next two decades — even more, if we don’t start putting $300 million per year into this right away. An immediate question is: If taxpayers don’t support their local school budget, how likely are they to vote to spend even more on aging school...