Zoie Saunders’ Appointment as Education Secretary Advances

For the second time in 11 months, Zoie Saunders sat in front of the Senate Education Committee and explained to its members why she deserved to have the top education job in the state.

Last year, as a newcomer to Vermont, she spoke about her experience working in Florida. This time around, on Tuesday, she made the case that she has improved the Agency of Education during her tenure leading it.

For the most part, the six legislators on the committee seemed to like what they heard. Five of them — three Republicans and two Democrats — voted to advance Saunders’ nomination as education secretary. Just one, Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast) voted against it.

Saunders will now face a vote of the full Senate on Thursday, according to Ashley Moore, chief of staff for Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden-Central).

It will be an opportunity for her to win majority support from the 30-member body, which rejected her nomination last year by a 19-9 margin. Gov. Phil Scott appointed her on an interim basis anyway, then named her to the permanent position in November.

Under state statute, the education secretary appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the full Senate. That means she needs the body’s sign-off, even though she’s technically already held the position for a year.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Saunders spoke for 30 minutes about how she had strengthened the agency in four key areas: providing support to the field, improving data quality, addressing compliance issues and building a positive culture.

“I see my confirmation as a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of the Agency of Education over the past year,” Saunders told lawmakers.

Saunders said that since she began serving in the secretary role, she had done what she had promised.

“I have listened. I have learned. I have led on things that matter most to Vermonters,” Saunders said. “Despite all the noise and distraction, I have been resolute in my focus on showing up every day for Vermont students and educators.”

The line of questioning from most Senate Education Committee members was friendly.

“It’s a great pleasure to have your testimony,” said Sen. David Weeks (R-Rutland), who voted in favor of Saunders last year. He asked her a question about school construction.

Saunders said that while school construction is a major concern, “there’s acknowledgment that there’s not sufficient money to correct all of the building challenges that we have across the state.” She said the state had to take a “staged” approach — “first identifying how we can really right-size our system and understanding then where we have to invest those dollars that will have the biggest impact.”

Before questioning Saunders, Sen. Nader Hashim (D-Windham) told her he would vote to advance her nomination — a reversal from last year.

“From my perspective, when it comes to voting for these confirmations, it’s not necessarily, Do I agree with whatever policies are coming out? Hashim explained. “I think, more so, it’s a focus on Is the person able to do the job? Do they communicate clearly? Do they have a background in this? and Are they a leader?“

Hashim said he appreciated that even after his no vote last year, Saunders came to Windham County and was very helpful and communicative.

The toughest questions came from Ram Hinsdale, who was not on the Senate Education Committee last year. Ram Hinsdale said she’s found that when Vermonters lack faith in candidates, “they look for opportunities to find that faith, to see the improvement” and let their legislators know when they have positive experiences with the person that change their mind.

“I struggled to find those kinds of comments going into this hearing,” Ram Hinsdale said. She said she heard from many educators in the field that they are concerned about the functioning of the Agency of Education and the governor’s education transformation plan, which Saunders has worked to promote over the past several months.

Ram Hinsdale asked Saunders what grade she would give herself as secretary and what grade she thought educators in the field would give her.

Saunders said that “from a growth perspective,” the agency was “ranking at an ‘A'” for being able to identify long-standing, complex problems and work to address them. Saunders acknowledged that the field still needed additional support but said she was working to “realign” the agency so it can better deliver on that.

Ram Hinsdale asked whether Saunders would provide the names of five people, including superintendents and teachers, who could speak to how the agency is functioning better under her leadership.

Saunders declined.

“I don’t want to politicize our work,” Saunders said. “I understand that I have to operate in that political space, but I really work to protect our team and the field from having to be in that position.”

Saunders said people had offered to write letters of support for her and she told them not to.

“I don’t think that that’s appropriate,” Saunders said. “I think we need to be focused on the work. I think the results and the initiatives we’ve been able to accomplish stand on their own.”

Senate Education Committee chair Seth Bongartz (D-Bennington), who served in the House last year, didn’t ask any questions of Saunders during the hearing. But before the vote, he explained his perspective on the Senate’s role in her appointment.

“The governor has the right to appoint the person the governor wants to appoint unless … something egregious emerges or we get convinced that somehow the person is completely unqualified,” Bongartz said.

Bongartz proceeded to call for the vote, with Saunders still in the room. Senators Bongartz, Hashim, Weeks, Terry Williams (R-Rutland) and Steven Heffernan (R-Addison) voted in favor of recommending Saunders to the full Senate, while Ram Hinsdale voted against.

Correction, March 11, 2025: A previous version of this story misstated Bongartz’ past service in the legislature.