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The Vermont Senate has confirmed Zoie Saunders as the state’s secretary of education and closed the books on a year-long political saga that underlines Gov. Phil Scott’s newfound power in Montpelier.

Thursday’s vote, which came nearly a year after the Senate initially rejected Saunders� appointment, was 22 to 8 in favor of her confirmation. All 13 Republicans and nine Democrats voted in her favor. Democratic Sens. Alison Clarkson, Martine Gulick, Ruth Hardy, Joe Major, Kesha Ram Hinsdale, Anne Watson and Rebecca White voted no. The chamber’s lone Progressive, Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, also voted no.

The Senate’s leader, Phil Baruth, was one of seven Democrats who voted for Saunders on Thursday � despite having voted against her last year. He said his thinking was simple: Lawmakers were in the middle of a historic debate about how to overhaul Vermont’s schools, and could afford no distractions.

“What the decision comes down to now is: Do I believe it's better to have a Secretary Saunders or a negative vote against her and continuing uncertainty? Clearly, I prefer the former,� he said.

Saunders has served as the governor’s main ambassador in reform talks, and while Baruth emphasized that he did not necessarily agree with some of the governor’s deeply controversial ideas, he credited the administration with coming forward with concrete proposals.

“As just a gesture of goodwill and collegiality with an administration that has stretched out their hand,� Baruth said, he would be “voting yes,� to keep Saunders.

Despite being confirmed only this week, Saunders has been working as the state’s education secretary for basically a year. Within minutes of last year’s failed confirmation vote, Scott reappointed Saunders to the role in an interim capacity, which allowed her to continue serving without Senate approval. The move drew a lawsuit from two senators, who argued that in doing so the governor had unconstitutionally circumvented the Senate’s power to accept or reject gubernatorial appointees. That suit was dismissed by a Superior Court judge in September.

Scott reappointed Saunders in a permanent capacity in late November. The governor’s move meant that Saunders would again come before the Senate � but the results of the elections earlier that month also ensured that the makeup of the chamber would be far friendlier to her than before.

The two senators (one since retired) who had filed their suit over Saunders� interim appointment appealed the case to the Vermont Supreme Court. But the high court that the case was now moot, given that her permanent appointment now superseded her interim one.

A former executive for a for-profit charter school management company, Saunders� appointment last year drew widespread pushback. Under pressure from the state’s largest union, the Vermont-NEA, public school advocates, and many rank-and-file educators, the Vermont Senate last April rejected her appointment 19-9, with most (but not all) Democrats voting against her.

But in a new political environment, things were very different for Saunders this year. The Vermont-NEA and major public education groups, for example, largely dropped their campaigns against Saunders’s second confirmation vote.

The Senate education committee’s new chair, Sen. Seth Bongartz, told his colleagues on the floor Thursday that while there had been “a lot of focus on the Secretary's work with charter schools,� debate had skipped over “what her actual job was.�

“She was responsible for facilitating school improvement, planning, designing new educational programs and ensuring that students were learning and achieving at high levels. Her performance was impressive,� he said.

Brian Stevenson

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Bongartz also credited her for serving “with poise and grace under pressure,� over the last year, and argued she had made significant inroads fixing the state’s beleaguered Agency of Education, which lawmakers and education officials alike have complained for years is increasingly incapable of performing basic tasks.

Still, several Democratic lawmakers pushed back, and many gave lengthy speeches opposing her appointment. Gulick, a Chittenden County Democrat, argued that Saunders had little to show for her work shoring up her agency, which continued to lose qualified staff. The agency still wasn’t compliant with certain federal rules, she said, was still years behind in reviewing the licenses of private schools that collect public tuition, and still failed to give local districts timely data necessary for estimating tax rates during budget season.

And her role in laying out Scott’s vision for education reform, Gulick said, should also count against her.

“Secretary Saunders has proven herself to be an effective face of the governor's plan � but this plan, if implemented, will be harmful to our communities and to our children,� she said.

Ram Hinsdale, also from Chittenden County, argued that Saunders� role in reform talks should be seen as disqualifying, and that the way she talked about schools left educators feeling like they were “under attack.�

Brian Stevenson

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“Society is failing our kids right now, and our teachers and our principals and our superintendents and our education staff are the ones doing their absolute best to save them. And I truly think we are worse off if someone who is leading this discussion and in the public sphere daily, is saying that our schools are failing,� Ram Hinsdale said.

Ram Hinsdale’s comments drew a rebuke from Bongartz, who had already given his report, but stood back up to say they were “deeply unfair and deeply misleading.�

“I can't leave on the floor here today with any insinuation that she has been anything other than very supportive of teachers in the educational system,� he said.

Somewhat more diplomatically, Sen. Ann Cummings, a Washington County Democrat, said that she had “never once heard her say anything demeaning about our teachers.� And Cummings, who also switched her vote from “no� last year to “yes� on Thursday, added that Saunders had not been the only education secretary in Vermont to admit that “our schools are in trouble.�

“I think this appointment has just become kind of a red herring that's got us focused on this totally, and it is distracting us from dealing with the real problems we have,� she said.

Scott released a brief statement minutes after the Senate’s vote Thursday.

“Since the beginning, I’ve believed Zoie Saunders is the leader we need at the Agency of Education and I want to thank the Senators who voted to confirm her today,� he wrote. “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.�

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