Vermont’s 2025 Teacher of the Year wants schools to keep flying Black Lives Matter and Pride flags

The Vermont Agency of Education named Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver as the state’s teacher of the year for 2025. She teaches English and history at Winooski High School of the Winooski School District. The agency explained that she creates “culturally responsive learning environments where students feel respected, valued, and encouraged to embrace their full identities.” The phrase “culturally responsive” is often used to describe a method of teaching that includes the race and LGBTQ identity of students as part of the lessons taught in classrooms.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott has introduced an education plan that would provide the state with more power to better control schools. When speaking negatively about the governor’s proposed plan, Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver said that it would be harder for Winooski High School to become a “sanctuary school.” She also complained that the plan would make it harder for her school to fly “our Black Lives Matter flag and our Pride flag.” As a result, she made the argument that schools should remain under local control because it “ensures a strong culturally responsive education where students’ diversity of backgrounds and experiences and languages are seen as an asset.”