A summary of Lara's stance:

Our public education system is not only crucial for local, state, and national economic growth but is foundational to our constitutional Republic.  There are several issues that still need to be addressed:

• Paying our teachers a livable wage that keeps up with inflation.  

• Every child should feel safe and protected at school - physically, mentally, emotionally - regardless of background, ethnicity, gender identity, or race.

• Balancing statewide standards with teacher autonomy to better meet students’ individual needs. 

• Maryland deserves a world-class school system that is both excellent and affordable for everyday citizens.

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Our public education system is not only crucial for local, state, and national economic growth but is foundational to our constitutional Republic.  The founding fathers were real clear that the republic will only succeed if the People can read and think for themselves.  In fact, Thomas Jefferson advocated for a system of broad, free, public education, believing that education was a “sure foundation for the preservation of freedom.”

 

I am a product of the public school system, at every level, from kindergarten through graduate school.  In addition, most of my immediate family are educators from a homeschooling coordinator to public school teachers and college professors.  It is the ongoing topic at all family gatherings.

 

Our public school system is based on local control and funding. So, We The People control most of the public schools, and we need to ask ourselves, what are our priorities and how are we doing in supporting the public education system?  

 

We need to be paying our teachers a livable wage that keeps up with inflation.  Too many of our teachers cannot afford to live in Maryland and are commuting in from surrounding states.  All staff employed by the public school system should make a livable wage with such basic benefits as health insurance, sick leave, and vacation time.  At its core, public schools are only as good as their people -  teachers and their employees.  Our 1st priority should be funding the full costs of school employees (k-Community college) across the state (wages, benefits, pensions).  The Blueprint has goals in these areas, but doesn’t always provide the funding.  It should be a priority of state funding to pay for providing a livable wage to all employees in all jurisdictions.

 

I believe that the government should lead by example, meaning that all state, county, and city jobs should start at a pay rate that is a livable wage for their jurisdiction.  This allows our government employees to live, work, and participate in the communities they speak for and interact with at their jobs.

 

Every child should feel safe and protected at school - physically, mentally, emotionally - regardless of background, ethnicity, gender identity, or race.  We need to ask kids and educators in what ways do they not feel secure and safe at schools.  From there, we work with administration, board of education, law enforcement, and other members of the Frederick delegation to develop solutions to the issues that were raised.  I am a proponent of not over legislating, meaning many of our problems do not require legislation but a tweak to regulations or how a program is implemented.  Oftentimes, the program managers had not been given the necessary feedback in order to make corrections to implementation. 

 

Quality education for all students is essential to ensure they are fully prepared to succeed in life. There are several areas of the Blueprint that need modifications in order to provide for a more responsive and engaging experience for our educators and students.  It is important that teachers have autonomy when addressing students' educational needs.  I have watched the above average teachers use autonomy just to present subject matter in a way that hits all types of learners - audio, visual, hands on, cognitive, etc.  I firmly believe we need to find a balance between autonomy and equality as we try to meet the Blueprint goals of standardizing the coursework across the state.  It is also important that Charter schools are not viewed as competition to public schools but as another option for meeting a child’s educational needs.  We need to start thinking of them as providing educational autonomy to meet the student where they are at in their educational career. 

Maryland deserves a world-class public school system that is both excellent and affordable for everyday citizens. From the beginning, the Blueprint’s far reaching goals were not always grounded in the reality of what it takes to implement said goals at the ground level.  It also comes with a large price tag that does not always include cost estimates that best reflect reality (i.e. wages of support staff keeping up with inflation or no longer being classified as temporary or contract work), and pushes unfunded mandates onto the local jurisdictions.  Maryland should view the Blueprint as a living document that must be amended as circumstances change, resources shift, and new developments in technology, healthcare, and teaching methods emerge.