Agency proposes statewide Education Service Agency to expand CTE access; funding mechanics spark debate
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Summary
Secretary Saunders proposed an Education Service Agency (ESA) to centralize governance and funding for career and technical education and cited roughly $70 million in current CTE spending as the basis for a proposed statewide appropriation; legislators pressed for JFO modeling and expressed concern about moving funds out of the foundation formula.
The Agency of Education proposed creating a statewide Education Service Agency (ESA) to oversee career and technical education (CTE), centralize staffing and curriculum, and expand access to CTE for all Vermont students.
Secretary Zoe Saunders framed the ESA as a governance alternative to creating a new CTE district: the ESA would employ CTE educators, manage statewide curriculum and professional development, oversee program approvals across centers and schools, and help standardize program quality. "The education service agencies employ the CTE educators, manage curriculum, professional development, and oversight," she said.
Saunders cited a working assumption that current statewide spending on CTE totals about $70,000,000 and suggested the legislature could move that amount from the foundation formula into an appropriation to ensure consistent, statewide access and to reduce competition for funding across districts. She described the approach as staged: legislative direction to establish an ESA in 2026, an executive director and advisory boards in 2027, and a central office and operational frameworks by 2028, with continued phased implementation thereafter.
Committee members repeatedly asked for more detail on funding mechanics. Several legislators asked whether taking the $70 million out of the foundation formula would remove resources from local districts and how student participation and per‑pupil funding would be handled. Saunders said the proposal is not a near‑term transfer and that final mechanics require JFO cost‑factor modeling and further work. When a legislator characterized the idea as a removal of resources "with not a lot of specifics," Saunders replied, "That is not correct at all." The secretary acknowledged the proposal raises complex questions about where resources follow a student and how Perkins and other federal funds would be coordinated.
Saunders emphasized the ESA’s quality and equity goals: universal CTE access regardless of geography, integrated earlier exposure in middle and early high school, and a statewide budgeting approach—potentially including Perkins dollars—to identify needed resource allocations and modernize programming. She noted the proposal allows for an ongoing review and potential sunsetting of the ESA once regional comprehensive high schools and other long‑term infrastructure are in place.
The Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) is conducting a separate study of the foundation formula; Saunders urged the committee to incorporate ESA modeling into that work. Legislators signaled they expect JFO cost‑factor analysis before endorsing structural funding changes.
