Listening, Learning, Leading. 

I will never forget I work for YOU and will fight for YOUR voice. For me, public service is a sacred trust. I will also cultivate open lines of communication with parents, students, teachers, staff, and the community and make decisions that seek to balance the priorities of all affected parties.

Safeguard Neighborhood Schools. 

Families select particular neighborhoods to live, play, and raise their families.   That will be my overriding focus! When boundary changes are necessary, decisions should seek to improve the lives of students, families, and communities, or at the very least to minimize the disruption.

Fight to maintain academic rigor. 

Excellence has historically been a tradition throughout FCPS and we must guard against policies that weaken academic rigor. At the same time, we need to intensify our efforts and innovate to ensure every child has an excellent education, regardless of their zip code. We must prepare them to compete in a global economy.

Facilitate multiple pathways for students.

Just 45% of FCPS students complete a two- or four-year college degree within six years of their high school graduation. For starters, we need to expand our career technical education offerings as well as our partnerships with business, civic, and faith-based organizations.  

Drive spending to the classroom.

The annual FCPS budget is $3 billion – that’s $12 billion (without budget increases) over the four years of the next school board’s term. I will increase accountability and reprioritize spending, so that more of it goes to our teachers and their classrooms. The 38-year renovation queue is inexcusable.

Nurture and protect students. 

Students need physically safe environments, as well as ones where we attend to mental health, putting technology safeguards in place, and ensuring the proper use of as well as reporting on seclusion and restraint.

Recruit, empower and retain quality teachers and administrators. 

Besides offering competitive salaries, FCPS needs to look for ways to reduce top-down initiatives and paperwork. It also should expand programs, like Project Momentum, that allow principals, teachers, and learning specialists to collaborate and differentiate instruction to better serve the diverse needs of students. In addition, given the looming teacher shortages, I propose expanding FCPS’ teacher cadet corps – especially among minority students, incentivizing them to come back and teach in FCPS.