Scott announced his selection of Saunders, a school administrator from Florida, at a press conference last Friday, during which he hailed her experience working as chief strategy and innovation officer for Broward County Public Schools, the sixth-largest school district in the country. She's been in that position for less than three months. She was not yet a Broward County Public Schools employee when the State Board of Education recommended her and two other potential candidates for secretary of education to the governor on November 15.

"I’ve been disappointed to see many in and around the State House spreading or believing misinformation, making assumptions and levying attacks on her character — all without ever having met her or spoken to her," Scott said in a written statement. “Disturbingly, all these false accusations and judgements appear to be based on the state she currently lives in, and a cherry-picked part of her resume that’s been turned into a boogeyman with no attempts to understand her work or the value her experience could bring for Vermont kids and schools."

Scott said he was "embarrassed" that Saunders was being "villianized" and added that her "strategic leadership experience" was "exactly what we need right now" to address the significant cost challenges in Vermont schools.
Saunders did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden-Central) said Scott's comments struck him as "strange," because no legislators that he knows of have issued statements opposing Saunders.

Under state statute, Saunders must go through a confirmation process that includes meeting with the Senate Education Committee and then a vote of the full Senate. Baruth said the committee is scheduled to meet with Saunders on April 15, the same day Scott said she will start work as education secretary.

Baruth said he has asked Sen. Brian Campion (D-Bennington), the committee chair, to produce a report after that meeting for all 30 members of the Senate. If 16 senators vote against confirming Saunders, she would not be able to serve as education secretary.

"The thing that's uppermost in my mind is ensuring a clean process for this nomination, and ultimately 30 senators will consider what we have before us and vote," Baruth said.
The Vermont Democratic and Progressive parties and the Vermont-NEA have criticized the governor's pick. They've focused not on Saunders' Florida connections but on her lack of experience in public schools and her years of work on behalf of a for-profit charter school company.

"Many of us are in opposition to the ideology of siphoning public funds to private entities without accountability and transparency to the taxpayers. We also oppose taxpayer funding of independent or private schools who refuse to comply with Vermont non-discrimination laws," retired school nurse Lisa Talmadge wrote in one post. She's a Norwich resident who grew up in Florida and went to a Catholic school there.

"I remember what it was like to be a gay kid and told I wasn’t good enough," Talmadge said. She moved to Vermont in 2000 because of its legalization of civil unions.
Talmadge is worried that the governor's decision to appoint Saunders during a challenging time for public education signals that the closure and consolidation of public schools is on the horizon, which she believes would lead to more independent schools and a slide toward privatization.

"It's not Vermont," Talmadge said in an interview. "It's not what we need."