Montpelier
“I ask when you evaluate candidates, you prioritize applicants who, above all else, have experience managing complex issues (not necessarily education), share my optimistic vision of what our system of education must be, and have enthusiasm for the work of Vermont’s school boards,” Scott said in a letter delivered during a Monday morning board meeting to jump-start the search for a new education secretary.
Scott’s letter sheds some light on what may have led to Holcombe’s sudden departure from his administration. In his wish list of characteristics of candidates to replace Holcombe, a Norwich resident, he also said he would want someone who shares his views on “right sizing” the school system, and someone who can turn schools into an economic development tool.
Holcombe told teachers and administrators in a letter on Tuesday that she had submitted her letter of resignation the previous week, and that it would be effective as of Sunday.
The governor characterized Holcombe’s decision as “personal.” Holcombe herself did not elaborate, and she has declined to be interviewed.
In her letter last Tuesday, Holcombe, a Democrat who was Scott’s first cabinet appointment as governor, said merely that she was “confident the Governor, working with the state Board of Education, will appoint a secretary who shares his vision.”
Act 98, the legislation that elevated the head of the Agency of Education to a cabinet level position, clearly states the education secretary must have expertise in education management and policy, and demonstrated leadership and management abilities, said Krista Huling, chairwoman of the State Board of Education.
“Part of what the state board is looking for is someone who has those two things per the statute,” Huling said.
One of the reasons lawmakers involved the state board in choosing an education secretary was to ensure Vermont doesn’t end up with someone like Betsy DeVos, secretary of education in the Trump administration, who has no educational management experience, Huling said.
Even before they had received the letter from Scott, and had a chance to read over his suggested candidate credentials, board members had balked at the idea of hiring someone with more expertise in management than education — as had been suggested at Monday’s meeting by one of the board’s Scott appointees.
“The secretary of education is first and foremost a CEO responsible for running not only a large agency of state government but being the public face and voice of educational policy in Vermont,” John Carroll, a recently appointed member with private sector background, told the board.
Board member Stacey Weinberger said she regarded a background in education policy as essential, and that she would be looking for “someone with steep understanding of education policy.”
The purpose of the emergency meeting was to initiate the search for a new permanent secretary. However, board members also expressed frustration at what they saw as inaction by the Governor’s Office, who despite having advance notice of Holcombe’s departure had taken no action to install an interim secretary, leaving the agency leaderless.
Huling said she reached out to the Governor’s Office after learning of Holcombe’s departure.
Rebecca Kelley, the governor’s spokeswoman, said on Monday that an acting secretary will be named in “the next day or so.”