Baltimore City voters are slated to elect two public school board members for the first time this November. The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners have historically been appointed by the mayor for three-year terms. The board is expanding from 10 to 12 members, which includes a student representative.
There are four candidates vying for the two new seats: April Christina Curley, Ashley Esposito, Salimah Jasani and Kwame Kenyatta-Bey. The board is non-partisan.
All the candidates are seeking to shake up the way the school system operates and are not interested in maintaining the status quo. Top priorities include ways to address learning loss during the coronavirus pandemic when schools went online-only, improving academic performance across the district and including more community input.
Candidate Kenyatta-Bey is an ESOL U.S history teacher at Patterson High School in Baltimore’s Bayview neighborhood. He said the three pillars of his platform are, “communication, community and conception.”
The public school education system has been overrun by business and politics, and the community feels disconnected.
“We as a community have to regain control of institutions,” he said.
He was also passionate about arts education and increasing funding for arts programs across the district. He said exposing students to the arts can help them learn new ways of expressing themselves and play a role in reducing violence.
Esposito, who is a software developer, said she will bring the perspective of a community member and parent to the board. She said the board lacks parent representation.
“Ideally, the way that I see myself serving on the board is bringing voice to those parents that are on the fence about the school system or have concerns or see policy decisions being made that don't make sense on their level,” she said.
She also wants to tackle teacher retention and recruitment and is an advocate for preventing permanent school closures and increasing wraparound services that provide support for students.
As a former recruiter for Teach For America, retaining people in the profession is also a priority for Curley. She works for Last Mile Education Fund, a non-profit that provides financial support to students of color planning to work in the tech field.
Curley is also in favor of removing school police officers and replacing them with mental health professionals, strengthening students' tech skills and improving transportation.
“When we want to talk about tardiness or truancy, and ways to really bridge the gap, our kids need a better, more innovative, more effective, transportation system.” she said.
Making the school system more equitable for all students is one of Jasani’s goals. She’s a former special education teacher at Digital Harbor High School and now works in education policy.
“I think that there are schools in Baltimore City that provide an excellent education. And then there are schools that don't do that. And so much of whether a student goes to one school or another is determined by a composite score,” she said. “It actually exacerbates discriminatory practices.”
Jasani and running mate Esposito have focused their campaign on justice for students with disabilities. The duo is endorsed by Baltimore Teachers Union.
As someone who identifies as neurodivergent and struggled in school, Esposito said “I want to get to the place where kids that are twice exceptional are able to really, really excel in the ways that they learn. “
All four candidates are advocates for revamping classroom instruction as a way to improve overall academic performance.
Kenyatta-Bey said the school system uses antiquated ways to measure student academic performance.
Curley agreed and said the district needs to revamp pedagogy. She wants to put pressure on school board peers, “to reconsider what curriculum looks like and reconsider the rules that we have in place when it comes to supporting all of our students in their skill set, to make sure they're ready to enter into a workforce or whatever they choose to do after graduation.”
When a student fails Jasani said that means their school experience didn’t work.
“We also know that students learn at a different pace. So how can we restructure the way that we think about schools so that students are mastering material that is rigorous for them as individuals, and so that they are catching up,” she said.
Editors Note: This story has been updated to properly reflect Kenyatta-Bey's position at Patterson High.
