Biography
As a high school teacher for 18 years now and a member of the Champlain Valley School District board for many years, I am honored to serve as Vice Chair of the House Education Committee. One of the most pronounced lessons I’ve learned as a teacher is the cumulative effect of inequitable opportunities and experiences on young people and their families. I’m passionate about public education as an important means to create a more just and equitable society. I am committed to using my experience and the relationships I have developed in the legislature to be a tireless advocate for our most vulnerable students and to strengthen the sometimes overlooked “bookends” of our educational system: early childhood and post-secondary opportunities.
My husband and I chose to make Williston our family home because we value the quality of life here and the strong sense of community. We are so grateful for the friends, neighbors and teachers who make this such a special place to be raising our sons.
Before coming to Vermont, I spent five years working for United States Senator Mark Dayton as a legislative aide, tracking and developing a wide array of legislation, including education and environmental policy. When Senator Dayton announced his retirement, I left Washington, D.C. to pursue my master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
While it has been challenging at times to raise a family and continue teaching while serving in Montpelier, I believe it’s important that we have more voices from working families like mine in Montpelier.
Candidate occupation
Teacher
Why are you running for office?
In the classroom, I strive to share my optimism about the role of government and public service in the betterment of our communities. I firmly believe what my political hero, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, is well known for saying: “We all do better when we ALL do better.”
Issues in brief
Do you believe Vermonters are better off now than they were 10 years ago?
Yes
Do you believe Vermont needs a new education funding formula?
Yes
Do you support imposing new taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters?
Yes
Do you support the establishment of overdose prevention centers?
Yes
Do you support a ban on flavored tobacco products?
Yes
Do you support increasing penalties for property crimes such as shoplifting?
Yes
Do you believe Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election?
Yes
Issues in depth
What would you do to help grow Vermont’s economy?
We have designated significant state and federal funds for workforce development. The Administration and the Legislature should closely monitor these investments for effectiveness and seek to replicate and grow the programs and practices that are most successful. We need to continue to invest in our public higher education institutions, particulary the Vermont State College system, in order to make post-secondary education affordable to all Vermonters. Too many Vermont students leave high school without a clear path and it is a loss personally for those young people and a terrible loss for our economy. We need to break down our silos and work harder to directly connect our high schools and tech centers with all of the post-secondary pathway options that exist, particularly in high needs areas such as nursing and the building trades. Finally, we need to be asking young people and those interested in pursuing these fields what barriers they face and how we can make these pathways more realistic to attain. Young people are our best opportunity to grow our economy.
What changes, if any, would you make to the way Vermont funds its schools?
We are at an inflection point in education for a variety of complex reasons (and many are not unique to VT). The challenges in many communities to pass school budgets this year made it clear that we must chart a new course. The cycle of failed budgets is hard on morale and culture in schools and is exacerbated in the age of social-media and other online forums. Many voters want to “send Montpelier a message” while it was educators in our schools who got battered. This challenging budget year created a sense of urgency around establishing a modern vision for public education in Vermont. We know that at least $50 million in increased education spending in Vermont this year is direct mental health services provided to students in schools. Schools are the provider of last resort, tasked with handling multi-generational poverty, pandemic learning loss, and the impact of social media that we are just beginning to understand. The House Education Committee heard extensive testimony from over 100 witnesses this session, including school board members, teachers, principals, superintendents, Agency of Education officials, legislators from both sides of the aisle and all corners of the state, the Chamber of Commerce, national education research experts, and education leaders in other states. The Committee also collaborated with the Ways and Means Committee as the legislature wrestles with how to fund and deliver a high quality education.
The result was the Commission on the Future of Public Education – an integral part of this year’s Yield Bill, which sets the property tax rates. This Commission is charged with examining Vermont’s public school system: the structure, cost drivers, the size of the system, and the services provided in schools. After robust engagement with the education field as well as the public, the Commission will make recommendations about how Vermont can deliver and fund a high quality education for all Vermont students in our rapidly changing world. Vermont’s education funding formula is unique and complex. Each school district’s education spending is determined at a local level but our resources are pooled in a statewide education fund and taxes must be levied in order to raise the funds for all approved school budgets across the state. Our system is over 200 years in the making, so coherent change will take time. I am deeply committed to transforming Vermont’s education system into a right-sized, strong public education system that supports all students and uses our precious statewide resources sustainably and efficiently.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to address climate change? Please explain.
Vermont should be proud of our climate record. We should follow the path set forward in the Vermont Climate Action Plan. We must continue to convert our energy sources, particularly for transportation and home heating, to cleaner, renewable sources. We must continue to use an equity lens as we take action on climate and help Vermont communities prepare for a changing climate and more extreme weather.
Is Vermont doing enough, too much or not enough to regulate gun ownership? Please explain.
We can and should always do more in Vermont. We can and should continue to press for federal action as well. We need to ban assault-style firearms and fully close the “Charleston Loophole” on background checks. We need to pass a safe storage law with teeth. We should strongly consider insurance requirements for firearm owners. We should never let mass shooting events devolve into discussions about different doors or drills – the issue is easy access to guns. Despite the horror of mass shooting events, we need to remember the far deadlier toll guns have on individuals who die by suicide.
What would you do to help ease Vermont’s housing crisis?
We need to continue the path we are on – we have made historic investments and it will take time for those to come on line. We should continue to incentivize affordable housing, as well as housing in our downtowns and growth centers. We need to closely monitor implementation of H. 687 and ensure that we are truly balancing our most precious natural resources while also supporting economic development and new housing. We also need to be more honest about the barrier “NIMBY-ism” creates in our housing decisions and examine our state and local policies more critically.
How would you address rising homelessness in Vermont?
No answer
What would you do to increase access to health care services for Vermonters?
Like so many Vermonters, I am easily frustrated by our system. The cost of care is not transparent and increasingly, the workforce strains impact the ability to get timely care. Everyone should have access to high quality healthcare regardless of their employment, income level, age, etc. We need to support preventative medicine and general practice so that everyone has a trusted medical expert who understands each patient’s history. We also need to dramatically increase access to mental healthcare and continue to work to destigmatize it. With double-digit increases in health care rates every year, out-of-control health care costs are squeezing every budget – from family budgets to school budgets and our state budget. The legislature continues to tackle healthcare costs but we still have a long way to go. Like housing, healthcare affordability is a complex challenge that intersects with federal policy.
Financial disclosure
Candidates for state and legislative offices are required to submit a financial disclosure when filing to run. These disclosures include each source, but not the amount, of personal income of each candidate, and of their spouse or domestic partner, that singly or jointly totals more than $5,000 for the previous 12 months. The information provided is an opportunity for voters to learn about candidates’ potential conflicts of interest.
You can find Brady’s financial disclosure here.
Disclaimer
We emailed a questionnaire to every candidate with a valid email address. The responses provided by candidates are in their own words. VTDigger has not edited or fact-checked information provided.
If this is your candidacy and you’d like to fill out the questionnaire or report an error, please contact us at voterguide@vtdigger.org.
