Education

The state board of education is appointed by the governor. The board, in turn, selects the commissioner of education. The commissioner heads the state department of education, which supervises the public school system.

Shortly after Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791, the state legislature provided for the establishment of public schools. The nation's first normal school (for training teachers) was founded at Concord in 1823. Vermont was the second state to enact a compulsory school attendance law, in 1867. The present law requires school attendance from age 7 to 16.

The University of Vermont is at Burlington. It is a state-supported, land-grant college. The present name (officially, the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College) was adopted in 1865 when the University of Vermont (opened in 1800) and Vermont Agricultural College (chartered in 1864) were merged.