PLATFORM
As a wife, mother and grandmother, I have witnessed, had first-hand experience and been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to serve in the kinds of initiatives and programs that work. Community engagement and involvement are key to the team effort needed to ensure the best possible educational outcomes all students in Montgomery County."
LIST OF ISSUES
Closing Opportunity Gaps
I will continue to fight for the closing and elimination of opportunity gaps. This means having environments that nurture students, allow for creativity and innovation by students, teachers and other staff members and provide equitable opportunities without regard to zip code or background. Professional development must be well-designed and clearly communicated so that student achievement outcomes are not predictable by background or zip code. This means an equitable distribution of resources, focusing our supports in communities where there are the greatest disparities.
Pre-K
High quality Pre-K will be critical for improving our schools and ensuring every student is ready to meet the rigorous demands of 21st century learning. High quality Pre-K has been proven cost effective and yields long term benefits.
The impact of high quality Pre-K on underserved communities is undeniable: reduced high school drop-out rates, reduced teenage pregnancy, improved academic gains, increased attendance, increased high school graduation and college attendance.
More than half of the children eligible for these programs are not receiving the program or are not receiving a high quality program using standards to help ensure kindergarten readiness.
If we truly want to improve schools and close the opportunity gap, high quality Pre-K must be made available to every 4 year old in Montgomery County. I will continue to work with the Board to achieve this high priority goal.
Accountability
The taxpayers of Montgomery County invest a substantial amount in their public schools it is important that they are able to track their return on investment. Therefore, I am committed to ensuring that MCPS is measuring the effectiveness of programs and able to demonstrate evidence justifying their continued funding. Transparency and accountability are essential.
Mental Health
It is imperative that our students and staff continue to thrive emotionally, academically, and professionally. The pandemic disrupted our community in many ways and had a devastating impact on our community’s well-being. I recognize that the mental and emotional well-being of our students and teachers impacts teaching, learning and achievement. That is why I will continue to advocate for curriculum, programs, and strategies that foster the academic success and physical, social, and psychological well-being of all students, grades PreK-12. Our schools should serve as a safe, supportive space where our students build social skills, leadership, self-awareness, and caring connections to adults in their school and community.
Equitable Access to Opportunity
I have, and will continue to work towards equitable distribution of programming in the county. Ensuring that access to opportunity is not determined by zip code is a longstanding goal of mine. Although the work of analyzing the distribution of various types of programing, from language to stem to enriched and accelerated instruction, had begun, unfortunately this work has been delayed because of Covid. I will be working to refocus our efforts on ensuring that quality programming is available to ALL students.