Ashley Kearney
Running for school board in Prince George's County District 6
Email: voteashleykearney@gmail.com
Website: www.voteashleykearney.com
Facebook: facebook.com/voteashleykearney
How old will you be on Election Day (Nov. 3)?
36
Are you currently employed? If so, where, and what is your job title?
I'm a K-12 education administrator in the District of Columbia.
What is the highest level of education that you completed, and where did you get that degree?
Master's in Education from Johns Hopkins University
Why are you running for the school board?
I have dedicated my career to improving educational outcomes for young people and supporting the adults responsible for ensuring their success. I'm running for school board to be an advocate for students and families in my district and to ensure they have representation that will fight to ensure their needs and shape Prince George's County Public Schools priorities. I also know that the current landscape requires a collaborative leader committed to transparency and effective operation in service of students and educators.
What makes you a good candidate for the board?
As an award winning educator with over a decade of classroom experience and additional service as a district administrator and municipal leader, I believe my experiences navigating school, district and local government operations, managing public funds and being responsive to the community have uniquely prepared me for the board. In addition, my family members are both alum and current students of schools in my district.
This is my second time running for the board. In the last election cycle, over 12,000 residents stood with me. I've not steered from my commitment to education. In fact, I went to serve in my local community on issues related to removing barriers to education. Being endorsed by the local teacher's union shows their belief in my ability to have educators best interest in mind.
What is the most important issue facing your school board and what would you do about it if elected?
The most important issue facing the board is ensuring the system can restore the public's trust. There was good momentum, but the bus crisis was costly beyond the budget dollars and very revealing about Prince George's County Public Schools' internal growth areas. With the Blueprint expectations, in the face of a significant budget deficit, I would work to ensure we remain steadfast on providing an excellent educational experience to students and that if funding is inevitably cut, quality is not.
Please name a public leader you admire and explain why.
Rep. Frederica Wilson is a teacher and school principal. While managing an educational portfolio in Congress, I would take a walk on the other hall to simply bask in the energy of the corner where her office was located. I admire her because her values remained ever present in her approach to governing and she maintained her commitment to education as a community leader.
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 expectations of the Blueprint are not up for debate. Compliance without funds is an issue. The reality is that tradeoffs are becoming a fearful reality because the Blueprint has brought so much hope. I'm keeping my eye on well-intentioned decisions that may not be enough, such as the four middle-grade schools in my district that have had program replacements to ensure universal college and career preparation.
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?
Prince George's County Public Schools was positively in the news this past school year related to decreases in chronic absenteeism post COVID-19. That does not mean it isnt an issue, but the board can learn from best practices and support with all allocating resources that make the solutions easier across all schools.
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 appreciate the vetting component. I think there is more to learn regarding the impact of plagiarism on students. I would be interested in exploring the supports provided to educators and students to support professional judgement and student accountability without unintentional harmful impacts. Places with tiered approaches or progressive discipline may be suited for educational purposes in certain situations.
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?
No. I think that is why the community schools model is so important. We can celebrate baseline capacity while learning from and addressing demand with innovative solutions. Small steps would be to help remove barriers to support. For example, when the bus shortage was in the news nationally, there were under-the-hood waiver conversations for assessment shifts. I think that approach to administrative burdens or other components would help sustainablity as well create pathways for other ways of navigating partnership to meet actual demand.
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?
While school leaders, families and other stakeholders can collaborate on the books to share with school community, the primary responsibility should be to ensure high quality academic texts are available and aligned with the curriculum.
