Track Record of Success
Turning Good Ideas into Real Change
12
Years’ proven track record of effective advocacy at the local and state level
10
Thousand more students who can now get into colleges and post-secondary programs and receive federal financial aid
✔ I lobbied the Virginia State Department of Education to create an alternative assessment path for certain students to receive a standard diploma. Now, thousands more graduating students can get into colleges and post-secondary programs, and receive federal financial aid, thanks to the new Special Permission Credit Accommodation that, based on my recommendation, is retroactive to qualifying current high school students.
✔ After learning Virginia has the worst school-to-prison pipeline in the nation, I worked with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County Police Department, and FCPS leadership to clarify the training requirements, roles, and responsibilities of school resource officers and ensure they have appropriate training to understand youth behavior.
✔ I have co-chaired the Subcommittees on Executive Functioning and on Inclusion and provided guidance to the school board on numerous issues as a member of the Fairfax County School Board’s Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities since 2012.
✔ I organized and moderated state and local panels with state and federal legislators, law enforcement, and community organizations on juvenile justice reform to ensure we keep our schools safe and create a positive learning environment while reducing unnecessary discipline referrals.
✔ Through my work on the Falls Church-Fairfax Community Services Board, I have worked to improve human services across our county, including better housing options and programs to ensure people with mental health conditions receive treatment, not jail.
✔ I made sure we support our teachers as a board member and as the Awards and Grants Committee Chair of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA by creating a mini-grant program to help fund teacher projects and an end-of-year awards program to recognize all the ways our teachers go above and beyond.
✔ I have provided guidance to FCPS School Board members on how to better serve our twice-exceptional students in advanced programs. I developed ideas to improve processes for opening new programs across the county, championed the importance of social inclusion programs, and worked to provide better access to arts, career, and technical education so all students can pursue their interest and passions.