Why I think there should be more “moms” on the Board of Education—and fewer “professional educators”

I’m not saying this applies to every educator or every parent. But I am saying it absolutely applies to me.

When I joined the Board, the only thing I cared about was our students. I wasn’t trying to “make nice” with my one and only hire, because I was never worried about whether they liked me—or what they could do for me. And I wasn’t focused on getting along with legislators for the same reason. I didn’t care about being liked. I cared about what we could do for students.

My focus was simple: how do we improve classrooms and academics in a way that actually drives student achievement?

Those conversations should happen in a triangle—students, parents, and the community. And when we say “students,” we also have to acknowledge teachers. Without teachers, there are no students. Every decision we make should come back to the people we serve—because they are the only people we work for.

When we hire a superintendent, we should absolutely support their vision and goals—that’s why we hired them. But that doesn’t mean we say yes to everything, or give up our responsibility to ask questions in the name of public transparency.

Everything we do—every meeting, every email, every question we ask, every report we request—should be out in the open. We’re not a private company. We are public education.

And we shouldn’t be influenced by legislators. If anything, they should be influenced by us. We’re the ones in the trenches when it comes to public education policy. We’re the ones who see and hear firsthand how policies actually affect classrooms and student achievement.

This isn’t about being right. It’s about doing right by our schools and our students. That hasn’t always been the way in Baltimore County Public Schools—but it’s the way it should be, everywhere.