CC Commissioner Questionnaire

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I confirm that the responses provided here are my official positions in seeking local office and I understand that EACC reserves the right to share my responses with members and interested parties.  

Candidates: To be considered for a recommendation, you must indicate your response to each of the questions.  Clarifications, explanations, and other information may be attached, but please be certain to clearly indicate the questions(s) to which you refer.

EDUCATION FUNDING

BACKGROUND POINTS

• The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future came into effect in 2021. The Blueprint revises the state’s school funding formula for the first time in nearly two decades. The Blueprint calls for billions of dollars of new investment in Maryland schools that would expand career and technical education programs, community schools, and pre-k; provide more resources for students from backgrounds of poverty and students with special needs; increase educator pay; hire more educators and expand and diversify the educator pipeline; and create a new, more rigorous accountability system. These programs are designed to raise achievement and address Maryland’s economic inequality with programs to target concentrated poverty.

The County Commissioners play a vital role in the success of Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) by providing funding for the implementation of the Blueprint. While the Blueprint represents landmark education reform, continued investment in our schools is essential to ensure its successful execution. It is also critical that educators’ voices are heard and respected throughout the implementation process.

Public Funding for Private Schools  

BACKGROUND POINTS

• The EACC believes any education dollars spent outside of improving public schools makes it harder to make the progress necessary to provide a world-class education for every student.

• The Maryland State Department of Education requires a certificate of approval or registration for private schools; it does not accredit or license them. Private schools do not have to report or administer teacher qualifications, class sizes, adherence to College and Career State Standards, student retention rates, graduation rates, demographics, or discipline or suspension policies. Without these measures, it is impossible to ascertain the standards to evaluate any of the funded programs funneling public tax dollars to private schools

Collective Bargaining

BACKGROUND POINTS

• The EACC supports efforts to protect and enhance collective bargaining rights.

• Collective bargaining is the negotiation of a contract – including wages, salary scale, benefits, and working conditions – between employers and employees.  The items agreed to in a ratified collective bargaining agreement apply to all employees in a bargaining unit, providing a benefit to employees and employers in not having to negotiate thousands of individual contracts.

Impact of Federal and State Funding Cuts 

BACKGROUND POINTS

• Affordable Housing

Affordable housing is essential to the stability of families, the success of students, and the ability of communities. When families have secure, affordable homes, children experience fewer school disruptions and perform better academically. Expanding affordable housing strengthens the local workforce, reduces homelessness, and promotes long-term community growth. Achieving these goals requires collaboration among government agencies, nonprofits, and developers, as well as effective use of federal and state programs such as HUD grants and low-income housing tax credits. Ensuring housing stability is a foundational investment in both family well-being and student achievement.

• SPED, Grants, Title II, and ML

Strategic use of Special Education (SPED) resources, grants, Title II funds, and Multilingual Learner (ML) supports is vital to ensuring equitable access to quality education. In SPED, districts must prioritize inclusion, early intervention, and compliance with individualized education programs (IEPs) while advocating for full IDEA funding. Grants enable innovation and data-driven improvement in programs and technology. Title II funding strengthens teacher quality through professional development and leadership opportunities. For ML students, investing in language acquisition and culturally responsive instruction, along with strong family engagement promotes both academic and social success. Together, these resources enhance instructional quality and advance educational equity.

• Blueprint: Direct Services (Medicaid) or FARMS

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future emphasizes comprehensive supports that meet students’ academic, behavioral, and health needs. Medicaid reimbursement allows school systems to expand access to health and mental health services while sustaining critical positions such as nurses and counselors. Accurate documentation and strong coordination with local health agencies are essential for compliance and funding optimization. Similarly, the Free and Reduced-Price Meals (FARMS) program addresses food insecurity, supports student well-being, and improves learning outcomes. Streamlined enrollment and targeted outreach can increase participation, ensuring resources reach those most in need. Together, Medicaid and FARMS strengthen student wellness and equity in alignment with the Blueprint’s goals.

Racial and Social Justice 

BACKGROUND POINTS

• The EACC unequivocally believes that our diversity makes us stronger. We fundamentally believe that schools should be safe, welcoming, and nurturing learning environments for students of all backgrounds and beliefs, and places where all our students see themselves in the lessons they learn and experiences they enjoy.
• MSEA remains a vocal advocate of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future in part because of our support for training and developing high-quality teachers and education leaders, particularly those from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds.
• Every child, regardless of their background or zip code, deserves education justice and equitable access to opportunities, resources, and supports. We believe that the lives of our Black and Brown students matter and that all our students have a fundamental right to be educated in safe, healthy, and supportive learning communities and all our educators deserve safe, healthy, and supportive working environments.
• Maryland and U.S. history are far more diverse than is generally reflected in the content and courses currently taught in our public schools. Far too many Marylanders can progress through their formal primary and secondary education and rarely, if ever, see themselves reflected in the content they are learning or hear about themselves in the stories they read and are told. This lack of inclusivity negatively impacts not only our students' ownership of and agency in their learning, but it also adversely impacts their overall engagement in their learning and portrays an one-sided view of our history for all students. The disconnect is further exacerbated by the dearth of a more diverse field of educators in our schools and by the disproportionate (and sometime inaccurate) representations seen in society and in our culture that ultimately reinforces a sense of "otherness" for the people, communities, and cultures who have been rendered less relevant and less valuable. EACC recognizes the vital importance of ensuring that all students learn about historical figures who not only had a tremendous impact on the forming of our state and our nation but whose actions and sacrifices laid the foundation upon which this nation's pledge of "liberty and justice for all" must be built.
• EACC recognizes the vital importance of ensuring that all students learn about historical figures who not only had a tremendous impact on the forming of our state and our nation but whose actions and sacrifices laid the foundation upon which this nations' pledge of "liberty for all" must be built.
• EACC is committed to developing critical thinking skills in our students because we know that they enable them to better understand the problems our society faces and to develop collective solutions. To that end, we are abundantly clear that truth and honesty are fundamental components of teaching and learning, as are academic integrity and professional responsibility.  Out essential mission is to prepare our students for college, career, and life and to play an active role in our democracy.

Community Schools 

BACKGROUND POINTS

Poverty dramatically and negatively affects the well-being of children, particularly in the areas of physical health, mental health, safe housing, access to technology, parental support, family planning services, nutrition, youth employment, and education. Each of these areas plays a large role in whether students can learn and do well in school—making it imperative that these opportunity gaps be closed if we want to provide an equitable education in our communities. According to recent data (2024–25 school year), about 49.6% of Maryland public school students were eligible for free or reduced price meals.

• The EACC supports the establishment of community schools, where applicable, which are designed to close these opportunity gaps by making the school a hub for essential services that students in disadvantaged communities lack.

• Community schools generally have the following four components: (1) they serve a high concentration of students in poverty; (2) they employ a full-time coordinator to lead community school-related services; (3) they conduct a needs assessment to identify key obstacles to learning and the services needed to close the opportunity gaps; and (4) they work with community partners to bring those needed services into the school building or nearby locations to make them accessible to students and community members.

• The Blueprint began phasing in community schools in FY20, starting with 219 schools with 80% or more of their students enrolled for free and reduced-price meals. Community schools will be added, phased in according to highest levels of poverty first, until FY27, when a predicted 557—nearly one-third of all schools in the state—are projected to become community schools. That makes this one of the largest scale expansions of community schools in the nation.

• The EACC supports equitable and adequate resources to provide every student with an opportunity to learn in a safe and non-disruptive environment. Establishing and funding community schools is a research-based strategy for closing opportunity gaps and building strong communities.

Parental Involvement and Public Support 

BACKGROUND POINTS

• It is calculated that school-age children spend 70% of their waking hours (including weekends and holidays) outside of school .

• Research shows that the most consistent predictors of children’s academic achievement and social adjustment are parental involvement in schools and parental expectations of the child’s academic attainment and satisfaction with their child’s education at school.

Privatization 

BACKGROUND POINTS

• The EACC opposes any effort to outsource or privatize education jobs that are part of a bargaining unit. We maintain that any attempt to outsource or privatize jobs of public educators violates collective bargaining agreements because such an effort is in essence terminating or firing bargaining unit positions.

• Outsourcing and privatization efforts have threatened teacher and education support professional (ESP) jobs for years. In the last few years, Anne Arundel County has attempted to outsource teaching services for deaf and blind students, Talbot County has discussed privatizing transportation services, and Kent County has attempted to privatize custodial services.  There have been multi-county efforts on the Eastern Shore to outsource the hiring of occupational therapists and physical therapists to work in the schools.

• When jobs are outsourced, quality control is diminished, and safety is compromised. Public employees are subject to background checks that private employers often do not require. After privatizing, local school boards lose control over the individuals working in schools and have little ability to provide input on job performance.

• Privatizers often use an argument of cost-savings as a means of winning contracts. The amount is often misleading because they intentionally underestimate first year operating costs. Ultimately, they reduce hours, health care coverage, or just cut jobs. All these steps lead to increase in local unemployment and less money in the community overall.