BENNINGTON — Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders has officially started work, visiting Bennington County on Monday, though her path to confirmation remains cloudy.
On Tuesday, Vermont’s Senate Committee on Education heard testimony on Saunders as they considered whether to move her candidacy onward to the State Senate, which will ultimately confirm or deny Saunders as Secretary of Education.
Though it would be a rare – if not unprecedented – occurrence for the Senate to strike down the proposed leader of a state agency, swift opposition to the announcement of Saunders’ nomination in March has raised the question.
Opponents have cited Saunders’ background as an executive with Charter Schools USA as cause for concern, as well as her recent role with Broward County Public Schools in Florida – work which Saunders only began in January, but through which she oversaw the consolidation of schools in the district.
Previously, Saunders spent approximately five years as chief education officer for the city of Fort Lauderdale.
In Vermont, recent changes to education funding – and, in most municipalities, a resulting spike in property taxes – have fostered an increasingly heated dialogue around the state’s schools. Additionally, debate around the role of independent institutions like Manchester’s Burr and Burton Academy has drawn ire from some, including Bennington-4 Rep. Seth Bongartz.
The previous Secretary of Education, Dan French, resigned from his post for another role more than a year ago.
It’s clear that Vermont as a state needs to achieve a consensus around its priorities for education, Saunders says – and she intends to do just that.
“I really bring multiple perspectives,” Saunders said. “I think what will really be advantageous for me is really just understanding how to capture those local priorities while establishing consistency in terms of outcomes for the entire state.”
That work began almost immediately upon her arrival in Vermont last Tuesday, Saunders said. Having officially started work on April 15, she describes a frenetic schedule full of school visits and meetings with legislators.
The need for a coherent, statewide stance on education has risen to the fore, she explained, but the question of affordability has remained ever-present.
“Certainly, I understand that there is an affordability challenge,” Saunders said. “That’s something that has been top of mind in all of the conversations as it relates to the cost of education and the increase in property taxes.”
“I think with that discussion, it’s important for us to also think about educational quality and making sure that the outcomes for students are really the north star in all of those decisions,” she continued.
Ensuring educational equity is her top priority, said Saunders, who described the goal as something of a throughline in her career.
“I’ve devoted my career to promoting student outcomes, expanding college and career access, and ensuring great public schools,” Saunders said.
Vermont is on its way to achieving those goals according to Saunders, thanks in part to the efforts of educators and administrators to ensure that students can participate in classes or extracurricular activities, even across town lines. The Junior Instructional Ski Program (JISP), and its recent growth thanks to collaboration with the Bennington Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU), is a prime example.
“What I’ve shared with the superintendents is that I’m really looking to identify those promising practices so we can build upon them,” Saunders said.
To start, Saunders pointed to effective data collection and analysis around key performance indicators as one way that Vermont can enhance equity.
“Every role I’ve had has been very data driven, and I think that’s really critical for us to be able to accelerate our outcomes,” she explained. “I’m really excited to be working with the agency to understand how we can certainly provide additional technical support as it relates to data and reporting to guide those outcomes.”
Vermont’s educational system is nuanced, she admitted. The state’s unique practice of tuition exchange, facilitating attendance at private and independent schools through state dollars, is essential in towns like Manchester, which does not boast a public high school of its own. With the flexibility provided by tuition exchange, the independent Burr and Burton Academy has served in that role instead.
“Vermont is very unique in being a tuitioning state, and that’s something that I’ve learned a lot about as I’ve come into this role,” Saunders said. “In certain areas of our state, it’s really an interdependence between the public schools and the independent schools.”
“Within such a complex system, how do we ensure that for every classroom and every student there are equitable opportunities?” she continued. “I really think that being able to find that as a guiding principle will be important for our work.”
Despite her past experience with Charter Schools, Saunders says she does not see a role for such institutions in Vermont’s educational landscape.
“I think there are some misconceptions about charter schools,” Saunders said. “I’m not interested in bringing charter schools to Vermont. That is not my intent.”
Her experience in supporting institutions across state lines through Charter Schools USA, however, may serve Saunders well when it comes to leading educational policy at multiple levels.
“I’ve had a lot of experience working in a distributed environment and promoting consistent learning outcomes while still allowing and really honoring the localized control and requirements across different states, which I think translates here into different towns,” she said.
Alongside concerns around her work history, critics have characterized Saunders’ lack of classroom experience as a deficiency. Vermont’s last two Secretaries of Education – Dan French and Rebecca Holcombe – followed the more traditional trajectory from teacher to principal to superintendent. Both had earned doctorates in education.
Though Saunders has degrees from both Harvard and Vanderbilt University, with a Masters in Education from the latter, she has instead chosen roles that embrace a big-picture perspective. Though this is a deviation from prior practice, Saunders says that experience may in fact be her superpower.
“I understand that people have questions because I didn’t follow the traditional path,” Saunders said. “However, I chose a different path that really prepares me well for this critical moment that Vermont is facing.”
Her past work forming partnerships across the educational spectrum is particularly valuable when it comes to serving students from “cradle to career,” according to Saunders.
“I bring my research training and my practical application of being able to create that connectivity across those systems so that we maximize the educational benefit for students at every juncture of their academic journey,” she explained. “I think that positions me in a very unique way to take on this role at a time when people are really yearning for a clear vision and strategy for how we can achieve our outcomes.”