Many, many, many words were spoken in Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Education Secretary Zoie Saunders before the Senate Education Committee, most of them by Saunders herself. And then, after nearly two hours of jibber-jabber, her nomination was approved on a 5-1 vote, with Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale on the short end of the ledger.

The full Senate will have the final say (its vote is scheduled for Thursday), but we all know where this is going. Saunders will be confirmed less than a year after the 2024 Senate rejected her on a lopsided 19-9 margin. Immediately following that vote, Gov. Phil Scott effectively overrode the Senate’s power to advise and consent by installing Saunders as interim secretary. And once the Legislature was safely adjourned for the year, Scott named her permanent secretary. That move was challenged, fruitlessly, in the courts, so she continued to serve. And she will continue into the indefinite future.

I can’t really blame the Education Committee for voting yes. It was a profoundly weird situation, having to confirm a nominee who’s already been in office for almost a full year without major missteps or scandals, at least none that we know about. It’s too long a time to suddenly decide she should be here at all, and too short a time for a true accounting of her tenure. (Nor was there any chance to hear from other witnesses who might have offered alternative views of Saunders’ effectiveness.) In a lengthy opening statement larded with the arcane language of bureaucracy, Saunders ticked off a laundry list of initiatives, every one of which was a work in progress with few if any measurables on offer.

Neither is there any evidence, in this very limited hearing, to kick her out. Ram Hinsdale’s vote was more a token protest than anything; it was clear from the opening stages of the hearing that a majority of the committee would approve Saunders. The only other possible holdout, Sen. Nader Hashim, made it clear in his first statement that he would be voting yes “unless something totally bonkers happens in the next 45 minutes.” Committee chair Sen. Seth Bongartz, the third Democrat on the six-member panel, said almost nothing until the very end of the proceedings, and then he opined that “The governor has the right to appoint the people he wants… unless something egregious emerges.” The fix was in, and had been from the moment the Senate’s Committee on Committees created an Education Committee evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and brushed aside last session’s vice chair, Sen. Martine Laroque Gulick, in favor of the obviously pliant Bongartz.

Pivoting for a moment to one of my hobby horses, the dismal diminishment of our press corps, all the assembled scribes but one scuttled for the exits after the hearing without bothering to ask Ram Hinsdale to explain her “No” vote.

The exception would be Yours Truly. For the record, here’s what Ram Hinsdale had to say.

‘The question is, is the Agency of Education better off under Secretary Saunders after a year? I didn’t hear answers that squared with the grave concerns I’ve heard from the field.” She talked of communications with parents, students, teachers and administrators who “have more concerns now than they had a year ago.” Ram Hinsdale said Saunders had been less focused on running the agency than on developing the Scott administration’s recently introduced education transformation plan. which she described as “having a lot of holes in it.”

The confirmation hearing was scheduled for a brisk 75 minutes. About 20 minutes into the hearing, as Saunders was wending her way through a filibusterish opening statement, Ram Hinsdale noted that “I see a lot more pages” in Saunders’ written testimony and asked if there would be sufficient time for questions. Bongartz assured her that the committee would get the time it needed. Which it did, within the strictures of a confirmation hearing that featured no other witnesses or written testimony.

Saunders’ statement was full of implied criticism for past Agency leadership, as she drew a contrast between a sleepy, underperforming bureaucracy before her arrival with the formidable new teamwork-heavy machine her leadership has wrought (or so she says). That must be news to former secretary Dan French — and to the governor himself who, reading between the lines of Saunders’ account, seemingly allowed the Agency to flounder around for years before finally importing Saunders from Florida.

The questioning was dominated by Ram Hinsdale, who had done considerable preparation and was armed with a boatload of inquiries. Saunders’ answers offered no specifics or examples; her comfort zone was vague administrative generalities. Hashim asked about a perpetual criticism of the Education Agency — that it’s chronically understaffed. He asked how many job vacancies there were now, and how many there were when Saunders became Secretary. “I don’t have the numbers,” she replied, but asserted that she’s “been actively working to fill vacancies.” Cool.

Ram Hinsdale asked Saunders how much the Agency has spent on outside consultants. Saunders could not, or would not, produce any figures. Ram Hinsdale asked if outside consultants were actively involved in crafting Scott’s education plan. Saunders evaded the question.

At one point Ram Hinsdale noted that she had heard from numerous people who are deeply concerned with the direction of the Agency under Saunders; the Senator asked the Secretary to name five people in public education willing to endorse her leadership. Saunders claimed that many had offered such testimony but she had declined, saying she didn’t want to put “people in an awkward position” by publicly defending her in a political process.

Near the end of the hearing Saunders offered some pointed criticism of those who have peddled “misinformation” about Scott’s education transformation plan, including many lawmakers. You know, the ones she’ll have to convince to support Scott’s plan. Slamming lawmakers in public seems a curious way to make friends, but what do I know.

It might not have won any votes for H.454, but it won’t hurt her chances of Senate confirmation. I expect a short floor debate on Thursday followed by a lopsided vote — even more lopsided than last year’s rejection of Saunders — affirming Scott’s move to install her as permanent Secretary. The Senate will have fulfilled its duty, at least in pantomime fashion.

.