For me, fighting for our schools means ensuring learning environments support healthy, balanced development for all children. It also means looking out for the adults in the room, lifting administrative burdens off our school staff, and fiercely protecting our public funds for their intended purpose: our public schools.
Empowering and Trusting Our Educators
Our public schools are only as strong as the educators in them, and we must treat our teachers like the highly skilled professionals they are. This starts by slashing redundant administrative burdens so teachers can focus on what they do best: teaching. We must actively fight for the competitive compensation, resources, and structural respect our educators deserve so we can recruit and retain the absolute best talent for our classrooms.
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Investing in Critical Support Staff
The best way to meet the needs of every child is to ensure our schools are fully staffed with the professionals who support them. We cannot expect teachers to be counselors, crisis negotiators, and specialized educators all at once. True academic success and proactive school safety, including the prevention of gun violence, start with a nurturing, well-staffed environment. This means having full-time, dedicated mental health professionals on-site every day (not just one day a week) to support students in crisis. It means ensuring we have the support staff necessary to fully implement detailed IEPs for the kids who need them, while also keeping our AIG staff supported so advanced learners continue to thrive. When we have enough caring adults in our buildings to build deep, trusting relationships with students, we create a community of safety where threats go down and every student is able to reach their full potential.
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Meeting Basic Needs for all Students
Students cannot learn if they are hungry, and ensuring every child has access to healthy food is a fundamental prerequisite for academic success. At a time when grocery prices are rising and household budgets are stretched incredibly thin, our families simply cannot afford another increase in school meal prices. I will champion policies that prioritize student health and eliminate lunch debt stigma by working toward universal free school meals. Because of my background, I also have concrete ideas to pilot right away that could streamline our school meal programs. By modernizing our operations we can potentially save our district hundreds of thousands of dollars, which can be reinvested back into our district.
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Integrating Technology Purposefully
Technology is a powerful tool when it enhances active learning and connects students to the world. I advocate for a balanced, evidence-based approach to technology in our classrooms. This means prioritizing hands-on, tactile learning (including physical books and writing) especially in the early grades where cognitive and motor development are critical. As a school board, we must also exercise strict fiscal responsibility by auditing our software spending to ensure we are investing in high-quality, proven interactive tools rather than low-value subscriptions that drain resources. By establishing clear frameworks for emerging tools like AI, we can ensure technology is used to empower educators and prepare our students for a digital future without sacrificing the human elements of education.
Mom’s Demand Day of Action, 2024
Protecting & Advocating for Full Funding
Wake County’s public schools are one of our community’s greatest cultural and economic strengths. I am committed to fighting for adequate, reliable funding so that every single public school student has access to an excellent education. I plan to leverage my advocacy background to partner with rural counties, which are the hardest hit by state-level underfunding. Together, we can build a unified, statewide voice to advocate effectively at both the state and federal levels for the robust public school funding our children deserve.