[T]he state budget director in the Vermont Department of Finance and Management has been tapped by the Agency of Education as its chief financial officer.
Emily Byrne said as budget director she was in charge of tracking health care costs. Byrne decided it was time to tackle another of facet of state government.
“So I figured, why not learn education because if you aren’t talking health care, you are talking about education,” she told the State Board of Education on Wednesday.
In her new role, Byrne replaces the recently retired Bill Talbott, who had joined the then Department of Education in 1997 at a time when it was working to implement Act 60, the school finance law. The law was created in response to a Vermont Supreme Court ruling that determined the previous financing system was unconstitutional. Act 60 attempted to equalize school funding through a statewide property tax system.
Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe said Byrne understands the state budget and has ties to the administration.
“The CFO is not an easy job, being a master of all things,” Holcombe said. “Emily comes with really strong financial skills and also state level expertise working on the fifth floor of the administration working on our budget.”
Byrne started working at the agency in the middle of the education finance season.
