Agency of Education summarizes statewide "listen and learn" tour, previews transformation proposal
January 12, 2025 | Education, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont
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Good afternoon. Zoe Saunders, secretary of education, told a joint hearing of the House Education Committee and the Senate Education Committee on Jan. 10 that the Agency of Education’s statewide “listen and learn” tour documented consistent themes and will inform an education transformation proposal coming with the governor’s budget.
The agency engaged roughly 1,000 Vermonters during the tour, Saunders said, including six regional planning sessions with education leaders, 13 educator focus groups, 12 public engagement sessions and eight youth focus groups. “We do have an education transformation proposal coming down the pipeline. You’re going to have it soon,” Saunders said.
The report, Saunders and Jill Briggs Campbell, deputy secretary for the Agency of Education, told lawmakers, aggregates what agency staff and community members said across the state and frames three guiding principles for the agency’s strategic plan: educational quality, equity and sustainability. The report will be accompanied by additional topical data releases and analyses, the agency said.
Why it matters: Committee members set education policy and consider the governor’s budget; the agency framed the tour’s findings as the factual basis for proposed policy changes and budget priorities the legislature will weigh this spring. The agency also described near-term (reporting, training and targeted programs) and longer-term policy changes intended to address the problems identified during outreach.
Most important findings
- Equity and basic program access: Several presentations and breakouts found that smaller and lower‑capacity districts have fewer course offerings and electives, producing unequal opportunities between communities. The agency said the foundation-formula concept in the governor’s framework aims to increase predictability and equity across districts.
- Special education and mental-health demand: Sessions reported growing special-education needs and “increased acuity” among students, including younger students, and shortages of appropriately trained staff. The agency said it will produce a focused special-education report as a next step.
- Teacher recruitment and retention: Teachers and board members described pay differentials across districts and competition with neighboring states, contributing to staffing shortages for both general and specialized positions.
- College and career readiness: Stakeholders requested expanded access to CTE (career and technical education), regional comprehensive high‑school models that combine academic and CTE offerings, and solutions to logistical barriers such as transportation and calendar misalignment.
- Data and accountability: The report emphasizes better, timelier data. The agency said it reissued the state education profile after regional validation and will publish source data and ‘‘recipe cards’’ explaining how charts and analyses were produced.
What the agency has already done
Saunders and Briggs Campbell said the agency has reissued the state profile report with expanded validation; launched Read or Not, a literacy initiative aligned to Act 139; contracted for budget training for school officials; and begun data‑reporting improvements aimed at accelerating state assessment timelines and improving coding fidelity.
Quotes from the tour
- “We do have an education transformation proposal coming down the pipeline. You’re going to have it soon,” Zoe Saunders, secretary of education, said during her presentation.
- “The agency of education has not had a strategic plan since 2014,” Jill Briggs Campbell, deputy secretary, told the committee when describing why the listen-and-learn work is feeding a new multi‑year strategy.
Next steps and timing
The agency said it will publish several topical reports this winter and spring, including focused analyses on special education, college and career readiness and prekindergarten. Saunders told the committee the agency will provide modeling and policy recommendations timed to the governor’s budget address so lawmakers can consider both policy and fiscal impacts.
Meeting context
The presentation was delivered to a joint House and Senate education committee in the state house; Saunders and Briggs Campbell led the briefing and fielded questions from committee members about capacity, timelines and evidence supporting policy options.
The agency engaged roughly 1,000 Vermonters during the tour, Saunders said, including six regional planning sessions with education leaders, 13 educator focus groups, 12 public engagement sessions and eight youth focus groups. “We do have an education transformation proposal coming down the pipeline. You’re going to have it soon,” Saunders said.
The report, Saunders and Jill Briggs Campbell, deputy secretary for the Agency of Education, told lawmakers, aggregates what agency staff and community members said across the state and frames three guiding principles for the agency’s strategic plan: educational quality, equity and sustainability. The report will be accompanied by additional topical data releases and analyses, the agency said.
Why it matters: Committee members set education policy and consider the governor’s budget; the agency framed the tour’s findings as the factual basis for proposed policy changes and budget priorities the legislature will weigh this spring. The agency also described near-term (reporting, training and targeted programs) and longer-term policy changes intended to address the problems identified during outreach.
Most important findings
- Equity and basic program access: Several presentations and breakouts found that smaller and lower‑capacity districts have fewer course offerings and electives, producing unequal opportunities between communities. The agency said the foundation-formula concept in the governor’s framework aims to increase predictability and equity across districts.
- Special education and mental-health demand: Sessions reported growing special-education needs and “increased acuity” among students, including younger students, and shortages of appropriately trained staff. The agency said it will produce a focused special-education report as a next step.
- Teacher recruitment and retention: Teachers and board members described pay differentials across districts and competition with neighboring states, contributing to staffing shortages for both general and specialized positions.
- College and career readiness: Stakeholders requested expanded access to CTE (career and technical education), regional comprehensive high‑school models that combine academic and CTE offerings, and solutions to logistical barriers such as transportation and calendar misalignment.
- Data and accountability: The report emphasizes better, timelier data. The agency said it reissued the state education profile after regional validation and will publish source data and ‘‘recipe cards’’ explaining how charts and analyses were produced.
What the agency has already done
Saunders and Briggs Campbell said the agency has reissued the state profile report with expanded validation; launched Read or Not, a literacy initiative aligned to Act 139; contracted for budget training for school officials; and begun data‑reporting improvements aimed at accelerating state assessment timelines and improving coding fidelity.
Quotes from the tour
- “We do have an education transformation proposal coming down the pipeline. You’re going to have it soon,” Zoe Saunders, secretary of education, said during her presentation.
- “The agency of education has not had a strategic plan since 2014,” Jill Briggs Campbell, deputy secretary, told the committee when describing why the listen-and-learn work is feeding a new multi‑year strategy.
Next steps and timing
The agency said it will publish several topical reports this winter and spring, including focused analyses on special education, college and career readiness and prekindergarten. Saunders told the committee the agency will provide modeling and policy recommendations timed to the governor’s budget address so lawmakers can consider both policy and fiscal impacts.
Meeting context
The presentation was delivered to a joint House and Senate education committee in the state house; Saunders and Briggs Campbell led the briefing and fielded questions from committee members about capacity, timelines and evidence supporting policy options.
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