A successful public school system nurtures students’ well-being, creates a sense of belonging and safety, and provides every student with the necessary resources to succeed.
My Priorities
- Foster student achievement in a stable and inspiring learning environment; prioritize in-person learning
- Engage parents in collective decision making
- Attract qualified educators and increase retention with competitive salaries, ample support, and effective training
- Ensure fiscal responsibility, transparency, and resiliency by keeping budget nimble enough to respond to change and crisis
My Platform
- Commit to the quality of public education
I broke many glass ceilings for my family regarding education and I firmly believe public education is the most important public service provided by the government. It should benefit all citizens, regardless of their economic situation. A poor quality public education hurts the families who cannot afford alternatives the most. HCPSS is the most important asset this county offers. It is one of the reasons I moved here and is no doubt a reason the majority of people move here. A quality public school system is the key to a better and fair society and community.
- Invest in the school infrastructure to address school overcrowding
As a structural engineer, I deeply believe that long term investment in our brick and mortar infrastructure is necessary to allow every student to succeed in education. Most of our schools were built before 2000 and Howard County has seen a large population growth since the year 2000. Our county population grew 33.3% since 2000; from 240,590 in 2000 to 332,722 in 2020. By comparison the US population grew 17.5% and Maryland grew 16.2%. New students enrolled in HCPSS currently exceed new students enrolled in Montgomery County Public School System even though MCPSS is three times bigger than HCPSS. The PreK program continues to expand and add thousands of new students. Renovation of existing schools and construction of new schools are necessary to accommodate the rapid growth of students. Doing so reduces unnecessary school redistricting, which causes significant hardships and obstacles for both students and families. Portables cannot solve this problem. They are neither safe nor energy efficient. I believe we should build new schools where possible and renovate or rebuild existing schools with more capacity. Talbott Springs Elementary School is a great example of renovating and creating more capacity to keep communities together. We must invest more to upgrade and expand capacity at existing schools.
- Prioritize students’ physical and social-emotional well-being
The Covid-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 has impacted many families and students in HCPSS. What is known is that virtual education during the height of the pandemic greatly put our students behind in their education. I believe HCPSS should have opened schools up sooner than they did and I think it is prudent that HCPSS put together a detailed report on what worked and what did not work in educating students during the pandemic. What we also know is that students learn much better in person and their social-emotional well-being suffers in isolation. It is the social-emotional well-being of students that I would like to address while serving on the BOE. We need to add more counselors to work with students and families. We need to commit to less screen time, more hands-on learning, more affordable and accessible after-school sports. We need to encourage physical health. Also, we need to remember that frequent school redistricting is damaging to students’ mental health. Multiple redistrictings can affect a students’ sense of belonging to a school and disrupt friendships as well as relationships with school staff and the wider community. A student’s social-emotional well-being can impact their confidence, self-esteem, and ability to learn and it must be prioritized.
- Promote the strength of diversity
Howard County is a very diverse community and HCPSS has benefited enormously from our diverse student population. Students can learn so much from each other and appreciate each other’s differences. Diverse environments stimulate their curiosity and open-mindedness. We must continue to embrace our diverse population and learn from each other. We live in a global society and employers are looking for people that have a thorough understanding of cultures, cultural norms, and living in a diverse society. Embracing diversity will foster our students’ global citizenship and leadership.
5. Utilize taxpayer money responsibly
While taxes are already high in the state of Maryland and in Howard County, citizens generally tolerate high taxes if they feel they are receiving something of great value for the expense incurred. Over 90% of Howard County funding comes from Property and Income Tax. HCPSS receives half of the Howard County Budget and education is the largest expenditure of taxpayer dollars. HCPSS has a responsibility to use that money wisely and effectively, without wasting it on decisions that do not directly benefit classroom instruction and student outcomes. Some areas I think the BOE should reassess are transportation, devices, and administration staffing. Finally, I will look for other ways to minimize waste and pursue other funding sources from which we can benefit.
Dr. Chen - BOE 
Paid by the county == paid for by taxpayers.
The county does not have a golden goose that lays free SROs. We collectively pay for all of the county staff, whether through HCPSS or HCPD; elected officials should be cautious with how they spend taxpayer funds.
That said, I have no objection to adding SROs (or counselors or educators or HCPSS security) when they are needed, but why not let principals do what we pay them for: understand and manage school staffing needs. In general, it would be great if controversial ideas like SROs in every school or SES-based redistricting, etc. were determined by building consensus rather than forced via slim electoral majorities. Culture wars are bad for HoCo and are not what HCPSS students and staff need at this time.
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Thank you for sharing your perspective!
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The nature of education is political. Not in a partisan sense. But in a more important sense that the education system here prepares students for success or at least survival in a social construct that assumes private property as a given and a large military security state as a given. Without these 2 givens, current Howard County would not exist. Yet the givens are not questioned , debated nor alternatives considered in our Ed programs. That is a political choice. Do you agree or not? Why?
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CRT as such is not “taught”. But the humanities and social studies curricula overemphasize “race”. Of course slavery and segregation are to be included. But not at the expense of other factors driving the cultural, economic and sociological factors that created our literature, American identity and history. Slavery was a subset of European economic and geographic expansions after the Renaissance. It was not the cause nor primary reason for the creation of the “modern” world after 1500, not is it the primary factor that explains most of today’s major issues that students confront. Yet it’s weight in the curriculum is excessive.
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Class size should depend on teacher experience, student age, work load in class, etc. Class size is extremely important at the elementary level in order to set a solid foundation for learning, so resources should be prioritized to keep class size small at all elementary schools. It is also important for Title 1 schools and schools with a large population of ESOL students to have smaller classes. The class size should not go over 19 for Kindergarten, 20 for Grade 1-2, and 24 for Grade 3-5 at the elementary level.
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My email notification did not work well.
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Thank you for sharing your perspective! Most school fighting happen in middle and high schools. I support one SRO per school there. I think this is less issue for elementary schools.
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No zero-sum game because SROs are paid by County directly.
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In term reading instruction, yes we can adopt new instruction methods. Reduce screen time and increase reading time on actual hard copy books. For SROs, middle and high schools should need at least one SRO per school. I do not expect elementary schools need SROs. If any thread comes from outside elementary schools, the police response is more proper.
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My position is always to put students above politics.
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I agree with you. We should spend the tax money wisely effectively. In OBRC, I made motion to review the technology spending (20% spare, Millions of dollar loss due to chromebook damages) and reduce potential waste.
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I had Covid so could not make it on May 14.
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3 questions:
1) Do you believe HCPSS should consider mask requirements in school? If so, based off what metrics and guidance?
2) Do you think Covid vaccination should be required of teachers and students? If so, why?
3) Are you in favor of neighborhood schools, or diversifying by bussing?
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What about class size?
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Why hasn’t the candidate replied to any of the above questions?
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this is not true. whenever you are teaching that some children are either more privileged or more disadvantaged based on the color of their of their skin… you are teaching CRT. racism such as this is not hard to understand or teach. what is hard to to understand is how this is teaching is not inherently racist… which is why you pretend that this ideology is like astrophysics.
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Hello! Thank you for your interest and efforts in becoming part of the BOE! I am grateful that you believe SRO
s should be in high schools and middle schools. I am wondering what your thought are on placing them in elementary schools as well? The SRO’s are not just there for in school fighting, but are also there for outside intruders such as a school shooter. Elementary students need protection as well and unfortunately, the language around the purpose of SRO’s has been incorrectly focused on violent students, but it is ALSO for protection against violent outside intruders as well. I am interested in your feedback on SRO’s placed in all schools to protect all students. Thank you!
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Since school staffing is a zero-sum game, are there metrics for relative improvements in safety of adding police officers vs. mental health providers (counselors and social workers)?
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CRT is not a subject that is taught in ES, MS, or HS. It is an esoteric legal topic that is generally only taught in law school. However, folks who fear that their kids might study American history in school, which certainly includes slavery and Jim Crow, would probably be happier in another school system…maybe Mississippi?
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Hi! I’m a parent and Hoco resident. What’s yours stance on reading instruction-shouldn’t we be using science and teaching phonics in hoco? Also how would you propose we help keep elementary schools safe? I agree with SRO’s in hs and maybe but as we know elementary schools also need a safety plan and presence. Thanks!
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CRT?
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Where do you standing on spending? A lot of waste in the county.
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Will you be attending the forum on May 14?
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