“Over the past year, I have done what I said I was going to do,” Zoie Saunders, Vermont’s secretary of education, told lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee Tuesday as they considered her appointment as the state’s top public education official for the second time in less than a year.
And by and large, the committee appeared to agree. In a 5-1 vote following the nearly two-hour hearing, the committee decided to endorse Saunders. But the quasi-job interview was not without its tense moments, with one senator interrogating Saunders’ record, and the secretary calling out what she deemed “misinformation” spread by lawmakers.
Last year, Senate Democrats rallied to oppose Saunders’ nomination. While the Senate Education Committee voted 3-2 to endorse her, the chamber as a whole subsequently rejected her in a 19-9 vote. Her experience as an education administrator in Florida and as a charter school executive drew particular scrutiny from skeptical Democrats.
It was the first time in recent history that lawmakers had voted against a governor’s cabinet pick. Yet immediately afterwards, Gov. Phil Scott circumvented the Senate’s rejection by reappointing Saunders in an interim capacity.
That decision spurred two senators to sue Scott and Saunders, alleging the governor had usurped the Senate’s power to confirm and reject his appointments. The Vermont Supreme Court dismissed the case last month, finding it moot because by that time Scott had once again appointed Saunders to the permanent position. State law allows appointees to serve in the period before they come up for a confirmation vote, and the most recent appointment took place last November, when the Legislature wasn’t in session.
Saunders’ first year on the job coincided with what she on Tuesday called a “particularly challenging time” for public education in Vermont. Voters rejected a historic proportion of school budgets last year as spiking school spending fueled sharp increases in property taxes.
Now, serving as the face of Gov. Phil Scott’s “education transformation proposal,” the secretary has become a fixture in the Legislature, advocating for consolidating Vermont’s more than 100 school districts into just five and for creating a new education funding formula. The goal, she’s said, is to expand educational opportunities while also reducing costs.
Saunders used Tuesday’s hearing to highlight the work she’s accomplished at the Vermont Agency of Education, including her statewide “listen and learn tour,” a new literacy initiative, and efforts to expand and improve data collection. She also acknowledged the agency’s shortcomings, such as federal compliance problems and a flawed — and later revised — system-wide data report.
“I have taken accountability for issues,” Saunders said. “Despite all the noise and distractions, I have been resolute.”
Most of the committee expressed their support for Saunders, and Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, made a point to note he had changed his opinion since voting against Saunders’ confirmation last year.
But Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, emerged as the committee’s sole critic of the secretary.
“I heard from a lot of people in the field that they are extremely concerned about the functioning of the Agency of Education,” Ram Hinsdale said, adding that she hadn’t heard much positive feedback about Saunders.
Later, Ram Hinsdale asked Saunders to privately provide five positive references. The secretary balked, saying that “people have offered to write letters of support” but she felt that process would put those individuals in an “awkward position.”
The Chittenden County senator also pressed the education secretary for more specifics regarding how adopting the governor’s proposed education funding formula would save the $180 million promised in his transformation plan. In her region, the Champlain Valley School District, Ram Hinsdale noted, is large enough to achieve some economies of scale, yet the district would receive a budget cut under the governor’s proposed system.
In response, Saunders said the agency was working to provide “more detail” about the specific financial implications in each of the administration’s proposed five districts.
“What I haven’t heard you suggest is an alternative,” Saunders said.
The secretary used her closing remarks to call out what she deemed “misinformation” from lawmakers about her prior work experience and the governor’s education plan. That proposal, she said, was not focused on “closing schools” or moving the state to a “voucher system,” as some lawmakers alleged.
With the committee preparing to vote, its chair, Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, who hadn’t asked any questions during the hearing, outlined his philosophy, calling it the governor’s “right” to appoint who he wants to cabinet positions unless “something egregious emerges” or the candidate is “completely unqualified.”
The entire Senate is expected to vote on Saunders’ confirmation on Thursday.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Senate committee backs Zoie Saunders for education secretary once again.