The Vermont Senate voted Thursday 22-8 to confirm Zoie Saunders as education secretary, ending a yearlong saga over her appointment.
“What she’s trying to do is provide the best opportunity she can for every kid in the state,” Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, chair of the Senate Education Committee said, explaining his support for Saunders on the Senate floor.
Last spring, the Senate voted 19-9 not to confirm her as the education secretary, a rare rejection of a cabinet appointment. Democrats, almost all of whom opposed Scott’s choice for education secretary, singled out Saunders’ experience as a charter school executive and what they described as limited public school experience.
Immediately following last year’s vote, Gov. Phil Scott circumvented the Senate’s rejection by reappointing Saunders in an interim capacity. And in November, while the Legislature was out of session, Scott again appointed Saunders to the position permanently.
Scott’s swift interim appointment spurred two senators to sue Scott and Saunders, which the Vermont Supreme Court ultimately dismissed as moot last month.
Now, with education policy dominating conversations in Montpelier, Saunders has served as the face of Gov. Phil Scott’s “education transformation proposal,” which seeks school district consolidation and a new education funding formula. The goal, she’s said, is to expand educational opportunities while also reducing costs.
With lawmakers yet to settle on a direction, and many skeptical of the plans’ specifics, the future design of Vermont’s public education system remains uncertain.
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Earlier in the week, the Senate Education Committee gave its support to Saunders in a 5-1 vote. Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, was the only dissenting voice.
On Thursday, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, spoke out in support of Saunders despite his “no” vote last year..
“We need a confirmed secretary of education now,” he said, describing the challenging education policymaking the state is undertaking.
Baruth said he was “genuinely surprised” Scott and Saunders brought forward a “concrete plan” for education reform, even if he didn’t agree with all of it.
“I give them great credit for coming forward as colleagues,” he said, calling his affirmative vote a “a gesture of goodwill and collegiality.”
Yet many senators who opposed Saunders’ appointment last year once again spoke out against her permanent confirmation.
Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, told her colleagues she’d heard even more opposition to Saunders from constituents this year than last year.
“I have to vote no,” White said. “We can resist school closures and consolidations.”
The senators who voted no were Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor; Sen. Martine Gulick, D-Chittenden Central; Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison; Sen. Joe Major, D-Windsor; Ram Hinsdale; Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central; Sen. Anne Watson, D/P-Washington; and White.
Following the vote, Scott released a statement thanking the senators who supported Saunders.
“We have a lot of work ahead to transform our education system and Secretary Saunders remains committed to working together to create a reform plan that improves student outcomes and supports teachers at a cost taxpayers can afford,” he said.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont Senate votes to confirm Zoie Saunders as education secretary less than a year after rejecting her.