Vermont

September 17, 2008: Curt Hier has been trying to find out if a teachers’ union influenced lawmakers’ votes on a school funding bill, but says his requests for public records from the Vermont Legislature have produced nothing but frustration.

Hier, a Fair Haven teacher who chairs school reform group First Class Education-Vermont, said he has been trying to investigate the Vermont National Education Association’s failed efforts to get lawmakers to repeal a 2007 law designed to put the brakes on rising school costs. Read the full article here.

The public's shrinking right to know
August 1, 2008: Whether local activist Mike Bethel was on a "fishing" exhibition in seeking e-mails exchanged be-tween local school board members is beside the point as far as the public's right to know is concerned.

Mr. Bethel's request was denied by the boards, and now Superior Court Judge David Howard has dismissed Mr. Bethel's suit against the officials to obtain those e-mails. Read the full column here.

State offers, union nixes alternate records route
July 30, 2008: The Douglas administration extended an olive branch Wednesday to the state workers' union in an ongoing access-to-public-records dispute, but the Vermont State Employees Association said the administration's offer came up short. Read the full article here.

Transparency & Government

• Ten point checklist for statewide organizations
• Vermont government corruption
• Vermont Transparency Legislation

School Districts

• Vermont School Districts
• Vermont Department of Education
• Vermont School Spending

FOIA Laws

• FOIA procedures
• Past FOIA requests in Vermont

Blogging resources

• Vermont blogs

• Sunshine Review is building its community pages. Jump in!
• Sunshine Review:Adopt a project is looking for volunteer editors.

Currently, Sunshine Review has 5,541 articles and 163 contributors. Help it grow.

Sunshine Review is already adding some spring to the steps of activists touting government transparency. Find out what people are saying about us.