Candidate Biographical Information

​

Education/training (list degrees and institutions where received):

1997    B.S. Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

2002    Ph.D. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

​

Current occupation:

Tenured Professor and Scientist

​

List current or past elective offices held:

None

​

Community/professional activities:

Bryant Words PTA and PTACHC representative

Wilde Lake Middle School PTA and PTACHC representative

Numerous professional activities related to my occupation including journal editor, journal referee, grant panelist, grant referee, award committees, conference organization, and institutional committees

​

Current or past union/trade association membership:

AAAS, American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

​

Education funding and staffing

 

1.  The Blueprint for Maryland’s future requires LEA’s to raise educator salaries by 10% by 2024, and to achieve a minimum starting salary of $60,000 by 2026. In your view, is this a competitive minimum starting salary for teachers? If not, what would a competitive salary be?​

​

If all Maryland jurisdictions have a minimum starting salary of $60,000, then the same salary will be too low to recruit high quality teachers to Howard County, since the cost of living is higher in Howard County than in other Maryland jurisdictions. Historically, teachers have been paid less than other similar occupations because it is a female-dominated profession. A competitive salary is likely one where similar numbers of high quality male and female candidates are recruited to new positions; we should at least strive for that.

 

2.  Support staff, central office staff, and non-school based personnel play critically important roles within HCPSS. What are your priorities for these staff with respect to compensation, training, and support?

We need to retain high quality staff at all levels. Retraining staff is a costly endeavor, in terms of money, time, and lost experience. I am most concerned for the lowest wage earners. We have many staff members making minimum wage who are essential to educating HCPSS students. These have been some of the toughest positions to keep filled in the tight labor market, because these workers have many other options. We need to ensure these positions are filled, and remain filled, with high quality workers earning a decent wage.

 

3.  As you know, HCPSS, like other school systems, is facing a severe shortage of qualified teachers, support staff, bus drivers, substitutes and more. What are some of your ideas about how HCPSS can compete with other school systems to attract and retain experienced staff who reflect the diversity of our students and community?

​

As long as the labor market overall is highly competitive, the school system will struggle to fill positions, particularly with experienced staff and those reflecting the diversity of our students and community. One way to increase participation in the workforce is to ensure that schools remain open so that all caregivers who want to return to work can return to work. We need more programs like the “Paraeducators Pathways to Culturally Responsive Teaching” program in collaboration with Bowie State that, through a 3-year grant, provides para-educators in Howard County with full scholarships to obtain bachelor’s degrees in education. We need a similar program that encourages the development and retention of special education teachers. The school system also needs to make decisions to reduce demands on teachers, support staff, bus drivers, substitutes, custodial staff, and facilities staff when possible. While we need smart and comprehensively wise decisions on all fronts, the case of bus drivers is a good example. During redistricting, we heard testimony about a school bus driver shortage, yet the board ignored those issues. The result is an even worse shortage now. At the time, I testified to the board about moves that would have resulted in the same socioeconomic distribution at three schools in downtown Columbia but would have resulted in 2-3 fewer bus routes. The last-minute rush in elementary school redistricting, where moves could not be thoroughly vetted, contributed to the current bus shortage. In addition, the school needs to advocate for infrastructure to reduce the reliance on buses. In my own neighborhood, there are students within view of the elementary school with less than a half mile walk that are picked up by a bus because there isn’t a crosswalk. We need better integration of all county services to ensure that we use all resources at our disposal to resolve issues affecting school staffing issues and to reduce costs.

 

4.  In the event that you do not receive funding for the requested staffing levels, what would you do to keep class sizes small? How high would you be willing to go?

​

The majority of the school budget is for salaries of teachers and other staff working with students.  Therefore, there are few options (and no good options) when funding is insufficient. Suppressed salaries and large class sizes both contribute to burn out, decreased job satisfaction, and limit the ability to retain high quality teachers. Hiring new teachers is also expensive such that retaining high-quality teachers is more cost effective. We also need to consider what is physically safe and appropriate in classrooms. Every year during back-to-school night at our newest middle school, I am left wondering if the classrooms are safe with respect to fire code.  There are so many desks crammed into the rooms that it can be nearly impossible to navigate from one side of the room to the other. The density within the classroom is so high it does not seem like it can still be conducive to learning, and one has to wonder how this contributes to everything from behavior problems to the spread of disease. Therefore, it is essential that the board work with the county council and county executive to ensure sufficient funding for HCPSS teachers and staff, advocating for funding at the county and state levels, including funding a sufficient number of teachers to have appropriately sized classes for both the workload and the physical classroom, as well as capital improvements to reduce school crowding.

​

5.  In your view, why has teacher workload continued to increase? What ideas do you have about alleviating workload for teachers and staff?

 

Teacher workload has increased as their class sizes have increased. The most straightforward way to decrease the workload is to decrease class sizes. In the absence of decreasing class sizes, we need to encourage teachers to decrease homework, encourage everyone to reduce meeting times through more effective meeting strategies, encourage administration to reduce time spent in online/virtual trainings, and to purchase and facilitate the use of digital tools that effectively reduce teacher workload.

​

Homework: There have been extensive studies showing the limited benefits of homework, particularly for younger students. Grading the work of students can be time intensive. We need to ensure that homework assigned is truly needed and beneficial.

​

Meetings: Strategies are also needed to ensure more effective meetings (which was raised as a concern in the HCEA teacher engagement survey). I have noticed this acutely for IEP meetings; by the time everyone arrives, all the introductions are made, and all the required statements are read and reviewed, half of the available time for the meeting is over. One long meeting would be more effective as it would reduce this overhead.

​

Trainings: Teachers spend a great deal of time completing online/virtual trainings. Many of these trainings are important in limiting liability, others can be great resources for teachers. But they can become burdensome and even counterproductive, increasing stereotypes and having other negative consequences. We need to have a comprehensive survey of all the trainings required per year and the time spent in trainings in order to assess, prioritize, and consolidate.

Digital Tools: There are many digital tools that can effectively reduce teacher workload.  For instance, tools that provide adaptive homework, scaling to the student’s level, that also allow for teachers to see aggregated results to inform their teaching and the student’s learning, have been shown to be effective at reducing teacher workload.  They decrease grading and increase teacher analysis of student data quickly through generated reports. We need to ensure that we invest in high quality versions of these types of resources.

​

6.  What, if anything, needs to change about how HCPSS administers Special Education programs? What would you propose to address the challenges teachers and students in special education face?

​

Identification of students: HCPSS consistently under-identifies the number of students who need special education services. Howard County identifies about 10% of its students as needing those services, while that number is 14% nationwide and 16% for neighboring jurisdictions. Howard County doesn’t magically have fewer students needing special education services. The difference between our number and neighboring jurisdictions translates to about 3,000 students who need special education services but aren’t getting them.  That matters in numerous ways with respect to the budget since the state funds provided for a special education student are higher than a general education student. This also places a higher burden on general education teachers who teach these unidentified students, since we still expect the same high outcomes for the student.

 

A less adversarial and more inclusive IEP process: Special education teachers spend a great deal of time and money testing students and sitting in on IEP meetings for students that genuinely need special education but are being denied it. I have witnessed first-hand the incredible amount of time consumed by this incredibly adversarial IEP process, even for children who have medically diagnosed learning disabilities. This leads to thousands of dollars wasted due to the time spent in these meetings, not to mention the mental and emotional toll on all of us. A more inclusive policy would reduce cost and reduce the burden on teachers in numerous ways including ensuring the student gets the appropriate education, ensuring increased resources to educate students with disabilities, and reducing the time spent in IEP meetings.

 

Early intervention: Early intervention is the least expensive intervention. Yet HCPSS delays and delays until the problem reaches a level that is more expensive and more time intensive to fix. Ultimately, intervening earlier before the problem is severe and before the student is failing, would save money and is also in the best interest of the student. Instead of setting the bar at what is in the best interest of the child, HCPSS sets the bar at the lowest point legally allowed. This is short-sighted with respect to what is truly in the best interest of the school system. The result is that for many kids the situation must get worse and dire before intervention happens. We need to end that practice which hurts students, families, and educators and ultimately is much more expensive. This is also an important issue relating to equity, as some families can afford to get outside medical diagnoses and interventions, but other families cannot. This contributes significantly and substantially to inequities in our education outcomes for lower income families.

 

Shifting the burden of proof: We need to continue to work on the legislation supported by the BOE, HCEA, the county delegation, and the Maryland House that would provide a three-year real world test of shifting the burden of proof in due process hearings from families to the school system in Howard County.

 

Twice exceptional students: Lastly, we need a program like neighboring jurisdictions to support our 2E students–those students who are both in above grade level classes while also having an IEP or accommodations.

 

7.  What is needed in terms of technology and staffing in a “post-COVID” school system? Should the School System continue to provide devices to students? What about continuing to provide virtual learning options (such as the DEC) for families who want it?

​

If there are students who want virtual learning in the DEC and teachers willing to provide virtual learning, I support virtual learning, as long as the students are performing as well as their peers, including the development of important soft skills learned in education, like age-appropriate social interactions. But I would like to see data and hear testimony on the development of soft skills and social interactions in the DEC.

​

With respect to technology in the post-COVID school system, there are many real problems that need to be addressed if we are going to continue to provide one-to-one devices. One-to-one devices provide advantages, like leveling the playing field for all students with respect to access to technology and providing more options besides textbooks to obtain educational resources. My own kids have learned far more from educational videos than I ever learned from reading non-fiction at their age. But if one-to-one devices are to continue, we need to ensure there is a qualified, non-teacher, dedicated staff member in each school to manage devices and connectivity issues. Currently a great deal of this work seems to be done on the backs of technology teachers and media specialists, in addition to their usual duties. The need for this position needs to be factored into the true cost of devices. In addition, a constant revenue source is needed to replace devices, or 1-to-1 devices is not sustainable. My son’s school-issued chromebook was less than two years old and in good condition before it had to be replaced because it wasn’t compatible for testing. At that point, my son’s school went through 3 or 4 devices before finding one that was compatible for testing and worked. We do not have good real-world data on the life span of the devices in HCPSS classrooms. We need to have those discussions. We also need a frank discussion about who is responsible for damage to devices. While the school system needs to ensure that we protect these resources, parents should not be responsible for damage that happens at school, and teachers cannot possibly do more than they already are to ensure that devices are not damaged.

​

8.  What does an inclusive school system look like to you? By inclusive, we mean a place for kids to learn that embraces their race, gender, identity, and ability where every child feels safe and welcome?

​

The most inclusive school system is the public school system, which provides education to all students.  We need to ensure that we have a school system that embraces all students and their families. It needs to be free of prejudice, bigotry, and bullying. It needs to be welcoming of all and safe for all.  One of the reasons my husband and I moved to Columbia was a desire for a community that embraced and reflected our extended family’s diversity as it relates to not only race, gender, identity, and ability but also sexual orientation and socioeconomics.  We enjoy the inclusivity in our community and the inclusivity in the schools our children attend. We need to ensure that all children experience that sense of inclusivity. To do this, we need to ensure that our teaching and reading materials are as diverse as our students and their families, and we need to ensure that our teachers, staff, and administrators represent the diversity of our students in all of these aspects.

 

9.  Howard County policies currently address the selection of instructional material, development and implementation of curriculum, and teaching of controversial issues. What changes would you make, if any, to these policies as a Board of Education member?

 

I have been very impressed with how teachers handle controversial issues.  I have also been very impressed with how teachers address the issue with parents, for instance at back-to-school night. I have appreciated the emphasis in my oldest son’s classroom on using primary sources so students can form their own opinions. However, I have had concerns about student-student interactions outside the classroom related to in-classroom discussions on controversial topics. If I were to recommend any changes, it would likely be in adding to the policy text that addresses how to ensure positive student-student interactions stemming from classroom discussions on controversial issues and reducing negative interactions outside the classroom.

 

10.  What is your view on the appropriate role of School Resource Officers in Howard County schools?

​

We have to find a better way to address school safety without contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline. We have issues of violence in our schools with fights and other issues that disrupt the ability of students to learn.  We have that in high schools with SROs; we have that in middle schools without SROs. A single SRO cannot break up a fight. Whether there is an SRO or not, teachers, administrators, and other staff are being asked to risk getting injured to intervene in situations of school violence. We need a comprehensive program to pro-actively address school safety to ensure a better, healthier learning and teaching environment. I would like to hear more about implementing a program aimed at reducing the need for discipline and that addresses discipline disparities, something like the My Teaching Partner (MTP) program that is available at all grade levels and has repeatedly been shown to reduce discipline disparities for children with disabilities and black children. We need to address the root causes and that may also require counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses who are as diverse as the school body, serving as positive role models for students. Ultimately, I believe we need SROs right now and we cannot just remove them. But I would like us to have a school environment that doesn’t need SROs.

​

School capacity and infrastructure

 

11.  High School #13 will be built in 2022. What is your philosophy on how the board should approach redistricting, and specifically what it should do in the case of HS#13?

​

I have concerns that this year’s redistricting is starting with the same lack of transparency and confusion that plagued the last round.  The board had a resolution one week about how redistricting is needed to reduce transportation times in order for schools to start later. A subsequent week they had a resolution limiting redistricting to only moving students in relation to the opening of HS #13. This has already confused parents in the community and contributes to the lack of transparency about the process. After the last redistricting debacle, there really was no honest discussion of the issues to ensure that history does not repeat itself. While the school system purports to promote restorative practices, it did not happen for the three polygons with the OMA violation. No guidelines were implemented to improve the process. For example, active notification of parents is needed, rather than the passive notification of checking a website that really is not user friendly (board docs) and watching hours on end of public testimony and work sessions that are fraught with mistakes to understand the decisions. Redistricting is incredibly important and should not be taken lightly. It benefits from thoughtful testimony from diverse parents. Without a rigorous, transparent, and inclusive process, redistricting will continue to rip apart our community. We need a transparent process with a reasonable timeline and reasonable goals that does not strain the board members into making rushed decisions and mistakes and that provides community members for ample opportunity for input and discussion.

​

12.  New developments in Howard County continue to be built without having adequate school capacity to support their residents, which has led to larger class sizes and increased educator workload. What would you propose regarding development in the county in order to reduce school overcrowding?​

​

It is very clear that the county policy on adequate public facilities is woefully inadequate. It needs to be fixed to ensure sound development, but the county also must remedy the existing deficits that arose due to the inadequacies of the adequate public facilities ordinance (APFO). With the school system’s annual operating budget, the school board has the philosophy that you can’t be fully funded without asking to be fully funded.  Yet with respect to the capital budget, they do not submit a budget asking for the minimum necessary capital improvements to ensure every child has a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom and that our brick-and-mortar classrooms are properly maintained. You cannot get what you don’t ask for. Every year, the school needs to request capital budget funds for deferred maintenance and for new school construction to ensure that every child has a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom.  If we continue to underinvest in capital infrastructure, the school system and parents should pursue lobbying for legislation that requires funding for every child to have a seat in a brick-and-mortar classroom.  It takes at least five years to plan for and build a new school, yet in 5 years, we will be almost 7-8% over capacity at all levels, even taking into account the ongoing school construction (Hammond HS, HS #13, and Talbot Springs ES). Yet this year we did not see a capital budget request for new funding for school construction to address those capacity issues.

​

13.  In 2019, members of the County Council proposed to increase the recordation tax, with an eye on putting those new revenues toward education, but it didn’t pass. What are your thoughts on increasing the recordation tax? Are there other sources of revenue you can identify to support education?

​

My concern with increasing the recordation tax to fund education is that money is fungible and any gains in income purported to be for education may not ultimately end up funding education. While the funding from the recordation tax can be earmarked for education, it may lead to decreases in education funding from other revenue streams with that money diverted to other county programs. While I support the progressive nature of the proposed recordation tax, ultimately, we need to prioritize education with the tax revenue already generated, and we must account for new growth and development in the county recouping the costs from development. Currently, we do not adequately account for new growth, nor do we ensure that new construction is sustainable with respect to all public facilities, but particularly the school system.

 

Your Role as an Elected Official

 

14.  You are running for an at-large position to represent the entire county. As an elected official, how would you represent voters who live outside of the district in which you personally live?

​

Howard County has one education system. It is the duty of all board of education members to represent all students and their families, all teachers and staff.  Therefore, the at-large position is actually the simpler position in this regard. The key will be to listen to and engage with constituents, ensuring that all voices are heard and are informing decision making.

​

15.  What is the appropriate role of the Board of Education with respect to the County Government? How do you envision working with elected officials such as the County Executive and County Council to advance your education goals for the County?

​

The board of education and county government are intertwined since HCPSS obtains its funds from the county and because it also relies on the county for infrastructure that supports education. Therefore, I would advocate for the school system but also holding them accountable, particularly when we need soup-to-nuts approaches like we do for development, both with school capacity but also the concentration of poverty in the county and thus the schools. The school system and children should not be the ones making up for the short sightedness of the grown-ups at the beginning of the process.

​

You and Our Organization

 

16.  Do you support or oppose public education employees’ rights to bargain collectively?

​

Yes, I support the rights of public education employees to bargain collectively. The collective voice is strong and there is power in numbers. But I also want to emphasize that I want to hear from teachers individually as well. I want to hear about their experiences (both positive and negative) discussing what is working and what is not.  We need to ensure that we maintain what works while attempting to improve what does not.

​

17.  How would you work collaboratively with HCEA on issues that impact the employees whom we represent?

​

I would hope to have regular conversations with HCEA. I will be available for conversations in person or by phone and will be responsive to emails. I would like to meet with teachers and staff. I am particularly interested in observing in schools guided by an HCEA representative like Colleen Morris, and had already asked if that could be arranged as a candidate. (Unfortunately, it cannot.)