Vermont education secretary urges faster move to statewide funding formula, outlines governance trade-offs

Vermont Education Secretary Zoe Saunders told the Legislature’s Education Committee on March 26 that the state faces a choice between continuing year‑to‑year cuts and pursuing a coordinated, multiyear transformation that pairs a new foundation funding formula with changes to school governance.

Saunders said the proposal aims to reduce inequities in per‑pupil spending, align resources with student need, and support teacher pay equity statewide while protecting core local priorities. “We have a rare opportunity in Vermont to not only make our system more affordable for taxpayers, but to improve quality of education for all students no matter where they live,” Saunders said.

The discussion focused on two linked elements: an evidence‑based foundation formula the agency adjusted for Vermont conditions, and a governance model that would create larger regional districts to achieve scale and share services. Saunders described the agency’s modeling as an “adjusted evidence‑based model” that took national research and refined base funding amounts and weightings to reflect Vermont’s smaller schools, teacher pay below the national average, and the state’s career‑technical education (CTE) system.

Saunders told the committee the model includes policy priorities such as expanded early childhood programs, more after‑school and summer programming in underserved communities, preserved allied arts (art, music, world language), additional mental‑health supports in schools, and stronger college‑and‑career pathway staffing in grades 9–10. The model assumes protected teacher…