Jill Remick, the longtime director of communications and legislative affairs at the Agency of Education, is leaving to become an analyst at the Department of Taxes. After an 11-year tenure, this Wednesday will be Remick’s last day at the agency.
So many things have changed since she started at AOE, Remick reminisced. “We didn’t tweet when I first started; we used to subscribe to hard copy newspapers to get clips; we used faxes to send out press releases, who knows what the next 10 years will bring?” she said.
While Remick says she is sorry to leave the “world of Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe,” she said, “I am ready to do something different and I’m really excited to be moving back into Montpelier.”
Initially, she will work as an analyst with a team on property valuation and eventually she will also be involved in communication and legislative affairs.
“It will be doing a lot of things that I enjoy doing and am good at but I will be doing them as a member of a team and a little less in the forefront,” she added.
For the last few months, Remick has been involved with a team making community visits in rural Vermont. The work made her much more aware of the issues that people there are facing and she was intrigued by the way housing and economic development impacts education, she said.
“So when something in housing opened up in state government – within walking distance of my house – and I could do something different, I went for it,” she said.
AOE will be accepting applications for her position through Dec. 7. “There is never a dull moment in education,” Remick said.
Her advice to her successor: “It is actually one of the most interesting and exciting jobs in state government – a really interesting combination of media, law and legislation. If someone is able to keep up the pace, then it is incredibly rewarding and you get to work with a lot of great people.”
