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Campaign Phone
443-494-6047
I have the heart of a teacher. I went to school for Elementary Education before I became a wife and mom. I also volunteered for thousands of hours in my kids’ school, which helped me to understand the day to day needs of teachers and the school. If elected, I hope to be a needed bridge to help our community to better understand one another and to work together for our children. I will work hard to ensure that all of our students have equitable access to a great education.
Currently, the greatest need is staffing. We need to have enough mental health professionals, special education educators, nurses, food service workers, bus drivers, and all the positions that are critical to the needs in our schools. In order to do this, we need to offer competitive pay in today’s market and foster a positive work environment where our staff feels valued.
Everyone should feel safe in our schools. Unfortunately, bullying continues to be a problem. We really need to focus on social-emotional learning and fostering a culture of acceptance of others from the youngest grades and up. It breaks my heart that some people are made to feel like they don’t belong in our schools and community just for being who they are. This is near and dear to my heart and I will always stand up for those who are pushed to the margins.
Schools should absolutely provide mental health services for students and staff. All of a student’s or teacher’s basic needs must be met before they can learn or teach, including their mental health. In advocating for my own children, I have been told to seek out mental health services elsewhere. This creates an inequity, as not every family has the resources needed to visit a mental health provider, especially since many are paid out-of-pocket and often booked out several months.
I am very interested supporting a Grow Your Own Educator program. Programs like these attract prospective teachers in our own communities through partnerships between school districts, colleges, and community organizations. Besides providing wrap-around services and financial support, programs like this encourage diversity in the workforce that reflects the diversity of the student population. We also need to ensure that our current staff feels valued and are fully supported.
The implementation of the Blueprint creates a challenge for school districts and requires oversight to ensure that it is being implemented in a way that achieves its goals. I will be very mindful of that. I believe that when we prioritize our educators and support staff in our budget, they always return our investment in full with a quality education for our children.
Campaign Twitter
@chuckyocum4boe
Campaign Phone
410-227-2268
Campaign Instagram
@chuckyocum4boe
During a 36-year career with AACPS, I have gained a unique perspective on the operations of the school system. I was a teacher & coach before moving into administration. There, I assisted in the opening of the Investigations Office, Planning Office where I was responsible for projected enrollments, redistricting and assisting with the Capital Budget. Following, I returned to the Dept. of Instruction and assisted in the development of the STEM Magnet Programs & instituted the Partnership Office.
Our greatest area of need is returning to the foundations of educational excellence. We need to get back to the DRAWINGboard, focusing on Discipline, Reading, Arithmetic, Writing, Innovation, Nurturing taking us to Greatness. Also, a focus on ACCOUNTABILITY, on all parties, students, staff & parents. We are in this together. Finally, we must focus on teacher retention. One way is through New Teacher Housing via a public-private partnership, a project I once had support from all but AACPS Admin.
Every student deserves a learning environment that is “warm, safe & dry.” This starts with discipline and accountability in our classrooms and carries through the learning environment in which all opinions are valued and welcome. Students should feel welcome and free from stresses inside the school that detract from learning. As a teacher, it was my job to teach my students “how” to think and “not” what to think. My opinions never entered the classroom.
Though the school system does provide a level of mental care, especially for staff through the Employee Assistance Program, it does not do as much for our students. The sheer number of students, coupled with the increase in life traumas at home, is not conducive to providing services for all. We must develop public-private partnerships to assist our students in receiving mental health care. Staff should also be trained in de-escalation techniques, to help lower high-emotion situations.
Teachers, like all others, want to feel valued. Working with new teachers, I heard many speak of the high cost of housing in our area. Again, I would recommend the redevelopment of the New Teacher Housing Initiative, a program for which I had, during my career, gained county government support and developer support but did not receive the support of AACPS. This project would provide new teachers with low-cost housing for up to two years after coming to AACPS.
Personally, I would like to see how the state and county will balance the funding of the implementation of the Blueprint for Education mandate. County Executives of the surrounding jurisdictions have expressed concern about how they are expected to fund Blueprint and not much in way of information has come from the State. As a multi-billion-dollar unfunded mandate, it should not be up to the Board of Education, a body which has no taxing authority, to decide how to fund it.
