Legislation

It all started with two students, Minelle Sarfo-Adu and Addie Lentzner, who were students in a summer politics immersion. Legislator Michelle Bos-Lun was leading a session on policy, and was willing to help students develop their own bills. With all of the news about critical race theory, Minelle and Addie decided to start a bill around anti-racism in education. We wanted to stress the point that anti-racism is a crucial part of education. We don't want to make white kids feel guilty; on the contrary, we want to empower all students with the true history. That's why we created this bill. We submitted it, H 584, after working on it with the full VSARN group for many months. It didn't pass in 2021, but we are re-submitting it and continuing our work.

It’s now 2023, and we are currently working on a modified version of the original bill around Equity standards in Vermont. We hope this bill can incentivize the hiring of equity directors in Vermont, help schools strive to be anti-racist and inclusive, and address the school-to-prison pipeline. We have already testified on the bill twice, worked with legislators to see it advance, and traveled to the Statehouse. We need your help! Please sign up for VSARN to get involved!