The towns of Dover and Wilmington will co-fund the costs of hiring KSE Partners to track how their education taxes are being spent at the state level.

When Act 60 was passed in 1997, it was meant to address disparities in school funding. But right from the beginning, it's been controversial. Last month, a special legislative joint fiscal committee hired a California firm to conduct a study reviewing Vermont's educational funding method.

A new report by the state Department of Education says Vermont could save more than five million dollars by eliminating "small school grants" to dozens of schools. The report says only 23 of the more than 100 schools receiving the grants are small simply because of isolation or "geographic necessity."

All This week VPR Commentators are looking at the state of education. Listen during All Things Considered for this special commentary series.

Vpr's Jane Lindholm talks with the president of the Vermont-NEA about school funding.

VPR's Bob Kinzel talks with State Auditor Tom Salmon about controversial ideas he has for solving the financial challenges, including raising taxes, restructuring state government and expanding gambling in the state.