By Curt Peterson
Governor Scott’s controversial appointment of senate-rejected Zoie Saunders as “interim” secretary of education, after leaving the important post vacant for a year, came with his defensive endorsement: “Once you meet her, you will know she is the right person for the job.”
Secretary Saunders is touring Vermont school districts to introduce herself, and gather opinions and suggestions from public school faculties and administrators, and from the public, to inform a strategy to carry Vermont public education in the future, called the “Listen and Learn Tour.”
Last Tuesday, Oct. 22, she was in Woodstock where she met with the Mountain Views Supervisory Union administrators and educators. Saunders and her crew engaged with a small group of people in the auditorium, including journalists, public office-holders and parents of MVSU students.
Public notice for this gathering was both last-minute and understated. The “elephant in the room,” the shocking FY2026 education property tax increase that has many people questioning their solvency, would likely have attracted a bigger crowd if more people had known about it. A “Public Forum on the Future of Education in Vermont” held a few days prior in Woodstock (Thursday, Oct. 17) attracted over 100 area residents. That forum was led by State Representative Charlie Kimball and featured Rep. Emily Kornheiser, chair of both the House Committee on Ways and Means and Education Financing Subcommittee, and Rep. Peter Conlon, chair of the Vermont House Education Committee.
Still, Secretary Saunders was quick on her feet and eager to listen and learn in Woodstock. She responded to audience questions or complaints and she appeared well-versed in the realities of public education in Vermont.
Phase I of Saunders’s game plan is to gather, analyze and share as much data about the education system and condition as possible.
Saunders calls Phase II of her game plan “Regional Planning,” which, she said, includes working with educators and administrators.
Phase III is gathering public input, such as Tuesday’s session.
There are currently 80,179 students in Vermont public schools, 2,000 in independent schools, 578 in “specialty education” schools, and 842 “other” schools. Vermont’s 51 consolidated districts are comprised of 287 individual schools, she shared at WUHS.
AoE spokesperson Jill Broker-Campbell said the total number of students in Vermont has declined 20% over the last decade and between FY2020 and FY2023 the calculated cost per pupil increased from $21,788 to $26,765 — a 23% increase. If spending remains static, fewer students means higher cost per pupil.
Increased budgets, she added, was partly the result of depletion of federal pandemic ESSER funds.
Saunders, predictably, mentioned further consolidation. Vermont can’t afford all the little schools in small towns, she said, and combining resources in more centralized districts will improve education opportunities for the students.
Attendees asked about the problematic shortage of bus drivers. Consolidation would provide a much higher demand for that already scarce resource.
“What will small towns do with their little empty schools?” someone asked.
There was no answer.
WUHS attendees divided into two “work groups” and AoE professionals facilitated discussions, including: How would you know if a student is successful? Would comparing the student’s performance with data from the state, the school, or from the students themselves provide accurate measurement? How do students measure their own success?
One of the more objective measurements is the graduation rate among a school’s students. More subjective questions, included, “Has the student, through their school experiences, discovered their interests?”
“There have to be basic standards,” attendees agreed. “And consistent among all schools.”
Focusing on educators, Keri Bristow, chair of the MVSU board and a language teacher for more than 30 years, said, “No one wants to be a teacher now. There’s not enough money, the kids are very difficult, and just when teachers implement a suggested new strategy, another new strategy is announced.”
Elizabeth Burrows, who represents Windsor County in the House, and is a member of the school board at Mt. Ascutney School District, said, “I think we have to provide more support for our teachers in their field … If students’ math scores are falling, we should work with the teachers to improve their methods.”
“And teachers deserve to be respected,” she added.
One attendee pointed out that discussions of education treat it as if it is in a vacuum, but all the issues in the state are dependent on each other and require immediate change in how education is financed. An important need is for more students in the public system, which requires attracting young families, but houses are super expensive and the taxes make them even less affordable. New home construction is made less attractive by high taxes that make the finished product more expensive. People struggling to pay rent find increases caused by higher taxes on the landlord’s property.
