Excellence

Early childhood education is a critical foundation for lifelong learning. Expanding Pre-K programs will ensure that students from economically disadvantaged communities have access to quality early education while also providing opportunities for families who can afford to pay. Strategically placing these classrooms in buildings with available space and easy access will help meet the needs of all families, particularly those facing challenges. Investing in early learning not only supports student success for all students and  leads to long-term savings by addressing learning needs early and improving achievement for all students.

Thirty years of research demonstrate that inclusive classrooms benefit all students. To ensure every student thrives, we must provide teachers with the training and resources needed to support diverse learners. Co-taught classrooms, where general and special education teachers collaborate, create an environment where all students can access the curriculum and learn together. When students with disabilities are separated from their peers, it not only limits their opportunities but also leaves typically developing students unprepared to engage in everyday life in our community. 

We must offer the strongest possible compensation package that keeps up with inflation for our teachers, bus drivers, and all staff. As we work to balance the budget, it shouldn’t be on the backs of our educators or support staff.  Decisions that impact staff’s daily lives should start with conversations, not implementation. We must also keep class sizes as low as possible so teachers can provide differentiated instruction that honors each student by name and need.

Today’s students must be equipped with the skills to thrive in an ever-changing world. APS must ensure that our curriculum, tools, and teaching strategies foster lifelong learning, self-motivation, and independent problem-solving. This requires using the best available resources to identify challenges early, offering courses that address real-world issues, and creating opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with their community both inside and outside the classroom.

APS has been a leader on building green and powering clean, but we need to think harder about how to take this work further. With APS students now receiving free ART bus rides, I believe that APS should investigate using public transportation for the main mode of transportation for some of our secondary students. We should also partner with the County on its new climate resolution and look for ways to advance our environmental commitments, including a quicker transition to clean energy school buses, and taking steps to cut food waste.

Through innovation and collaboration, we can stabilize our budget while continuing to provide high-quality education.  A weak economy and potential shifts in federal workers and commercial real estate taxes is affecting the revenue that supports our schools. With staff expenses making up roughly 80% of the overall budget, we must find creative, out of the box solutions to prioritize our educators while maintaining a sustainable budget. We can begin by identifying the essential supports for both staff and students, while streamlining unnecessary mandates that take educators away from their core work of teaching.