Liz Cooper
Running for school board in Saint Mary's County District 1
Email: lizcooperboe1@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586292331162
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
73
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
Self-employed children's author
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Master's in education and reading, Towson University
Why are you running for the school board?
During my career as an educator, I loved working with students, teachers and families and I am now ready to serve them in a different capacity. There’s nothing more important than an excellent school system whose students are consistently ready for the next level of career or educational path. A strong school system also provides the community with a competent workforce, as well as productive and economically stable citizens.
It is important to have a balanced board, with one or two former educators along with others with other backgrounds and experiences. With the current make-up of the St. Mary's County Public School board, I would be bringing my experience as an educator to the table. I have system-wide as well as classroom experience. When I was a supervisor in the department of curriculum and instruction, I had the opportunity to work with other departments, giving me a wide knowledge of how all of the areas work together, but I also understand that every decision affects the students in every classroom. I believe that understand the perspectives of students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
I believe my professional experiences will allow me to be a successful member of the Board of Education. I was the first school nurse in the county at Green Holly Elementary School with more than 300 students with disabilities. Later, I changed careers, becoming an elementary school classroom teacher, resource teacher and, finally, the supervisor of reading/language arts.
I’ve done hundreds of teacher evaluations, written dozens of county-wide tests and served as a test scorer at the state level. I have business experience as well, having owned two educational toy and bookstores. I consider myself to be a lifelong learner, and I am passionate about taking on new challenges.
I am also a special education advocate. I currently serve on the board of the Friends of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled.
I’m a children’s author. An educational publishing company, which specializes in educational books sold in bulk to large school systems, bought the rights to my humorous series featuring kids with disabilities. I’m proud that three of the books from that series were also brailled by a nonprofit organization and sent to 4,000 blind children in the United States for free.
My varied and vast educational experiences qualify me for a seat on the St. Mary’s County Public Schools Board of Education. But mostly, I care deeply about the students.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
All of the issues and decisions made by the school board are important. The main mission of the school system is to provide an excellent education that supports students during their important formative years. They need strong curriculum and instruction, top-notch materials, excellent teachers and support staff, good student-teacher ratios and modern facilities. All of these areas have to to work efficiently. It’s called a school “system” for a reason. With that said, none of that will matter if the students aren’t healthy, safe, non-stressed and ready to learn.
Pressing issues will always exist such as staffing, class sizes and the choice of a new superintendent (when the post is vacant). I will do my homework by studying all materials, listening to all of the stake-holders and making decisions based on what is best for the students.
The Board of Education is nonpartisan, and I am asking voters of all political parties to set politics aside, and vote for the candidate whose experience and dedication is most aligned with the best interests of the students.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, wasn’t my favorite president during his administration, but I admire him for the altruistic work he did after he left office. His life during his “retirement” was spent working with Habitat for Humanity. He also founded a nonprofit organization in 1982 to alleviate suffering and promote worldwide human rights. His nonprofit developed community-based health care systems in Africa and Latin America, monitored 125 new democracies and promoted peace in the Middle East. His organization’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program has practically eradicated the parasitic disease which used to infect millions of people. In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights and to promote economic and social development.”
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, passed by the General Assembly in 2021, is a 10-year plan that includes increased funding to support early childhood education, higher teacher starting pay, college/career-readiness standards for high school graduates, and expanded services to multilingual and impoverished families, among other goals. Since the Blueprint's implementation, test scores have increased modestly in many parts of the state, but some school officials complain about the costs and administrative burdens placed on them by the Blueprint. Please tell us your views on the Blueprint and how it is affecting your school district.
The pillars of the plan make sense for the most part, but if they aren’t fully funded, they may cause school systems to make tough choices, some of which may not be in the best interest of the students. Besides instruction, my background includes test writing and state test scoring. I also evaluated tests in other states as a consultant. If Maryland scores are not improving at an acceptable rate, something in the Blueprint is clearly not working. I would like to investigate this further.
I agree with some of the career readiness goals, and I know that St. Mary's County Public Schools is putting forth a good effort to arrange internships and other opportunities for students to graduate with job skills already in place. Although I am very concerned about the affect the Blueprint may have on class sizes, our budget and other unintended consequences.
Meanwhile, the Board of Education will continue to follow the Maryland State Department of Education requirements. If elected, I would continue to look at our data being generated by the state and the various educational associations. I have a sense that the Blueprint may need some changes in the future.
Chronic absenteeism has been a problem in many schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. How big of a problem is absenteeism in your school district, and what if anything can the Board of Education do about it?
According to the latest Maryland State Department of Education data tracking students "at risk for chronic absence" heading, St. Mary’s County absentee rates are 22.1%. In the final 2024-25 report, St. Mary's County Public Schools absenteeism rates were significantly below the state average, earning the designation as "District on the Rise" for its positive upward trend in managing chronic absenteeism. Attendance daily average rates show 92.4% for elementary and middle schools, and 91.3% for high schools, according to the Maryland Report Card.
Credited for the improvement are St. Mary's County Public Schools initiatives such as targeted family outreach and the establishment of an International Welcome Center to support multilingual students. Referrals are made to the pupil services team for absences over 10%.
I will support these efforts and continue to monitor progress. Because high school attendance rates are slightly weaker, it may also be a good idea to take a closer look at what is happening with the older students.
Are you satisfied with your school district's policy on AI use by students? If so, why? If not, what would you suggest to improve the AI policy?
I agree with St. Mary's County Public Schools' AI policies currently in place, such as “additive approach,” which views AI tools to support learning rather than a replacement for traditional instruction. They also restrict staff from making critical or educational decisions with AI. However, I believe that these policies are only first steps as we navigate this new technological era.
I am concerned about the loss of higher order thinking if the students aren’t taught to use AI thoughtfully. They need to understand that the AI tool is a collection of others’ ideas and regularly question, evaluate and analyze the information. If they don’t, then they are just completing a task rather than focusing on complex learning.
Training for administrators and teachers on the intentional integration of AI tools to support teaching and learning is critical. I am currently reading two excellent books on how school systems can implement AI literacy frameworks.
Youth mental health has been a growing concern for years now. Do you think your school district has the resources and personnel in place to deal with this issue adequately? If not, what would you suggest to improve the situation?
Our school system lost several social worker positions due to the loss of grant money. Before the cuts, St. Mary's County Public Schools operated with 14 school social workers, which already put the district at a ratio of one social worker for every 1,184 students rather than the recommended ratio of one to 250.
The current plan provides for school counselors, teachers, and administrators to manage acute behavioral crises in the classroom. These individuals don’t have the clinical training to handle these problems, and it also adds to their full workload. St. Mary's County Public Schools also realigned positions and prioritized working more closely with the older students. The loss of these positions make the at-risk students more vulnerable.
As a school board member, I will advocate for as many positions as possible to be reinstated, which will necessitate making it a budget priority and looking for new funding sources.
Do you think there are circumstances when books should be removed from school libraries? If so, what kind of books should be removed, and who should make those decisions?
We live in a diverse world, and public schools are open to everyone. All cultures are welcome and books should not be banned because someone doesn't agree with a lifestyle or religion. All children should be represented in literature.
In addition, altering or ignoring historical facts, because the students “might feel badly about their ancestors’ actions,” will ensure that those same actions will reappear again in the future. Humans learn from their experiences.
With that said, books must be age-appropriate. Are the students ready to understand certain subjects? For instance, coming-of-age themes or graphic historical events may be appropriate for middle or high school students, but not for the elementary students. Media specialists are trained to stock their libraries appropriately, but when issues come up and if a parent objects to a title, there should be a conversation with the teacher, media specialist or school administrators. Perhaps there could be an alternate book assignment.
I would, however, support banning books on subjects that would absolutely harm students, such as how to make bombs or advocating suicide.
