After her unsuccessful state board run in 2020, LaJoy Johnson-Law spearheaded two weekly livestreams and continued to organize around school transparency, safe passage, and special education.
Such experiences, she said, have prepared her to throw her hat in the ring once again for the Ward 8 D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) seat. “We need to ensure that parents feel included and have a perspective on the SBOE,” said Johnson-Law, the mother of a District student with special needs.
Johnson-Law is scheduled to announce her candidacy on Thursday, April 11. If elected, she will be the only state board representative who’s a mother of a District public or public charter school student.
Johnson-Law’s priorities include: safe passage, mental health resources, access to high quality schools, and collaboration with her state board colleagues and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) on the implementation of parent engagement standards.
Over the last four years, Johnson-Law has advocated for consistent and predictable transportation for District students with disabilities. She said she wants to continue her work in the special education space by ensuring that teachers are better equipped to provide individualized instruction.
“The special education perspective needs to be on the board especially while they’re working hand-in-hand with OSSE which oversees special education policy,” Johnson-Law said.
Johnson-Law also expressed a desire to organize and amplify the voices of Ward 8 parents, teachers, and education organizations who she say have been left out of education policy discussions. She’s been working toward that goal, to some degree, by connecting people with useful information.
In 2021, Johnson-Law streamed “Lunch with LaJoy,” a platform where Ward 8 community members and leaders weigh in on the issues of the day. Dr. Carlene Reid, the current Ward 8 state board representative who defeated Johnson-Law in the 2020 election, counted among Johnson-Law’s first post-election guests on the program.
Johnson-Law also built a loyal fanbase around “Storytime with Abria,” a weekly program featuring her daughter, for whom the show is named. Guests who appear on that program read books with Abria while exploring the importance of literacy.
Both programs, Johnson-Law said, serve as an engagement tool for raising Ward 8 residents’ consciousness of their power and their ability to effect change. “I want to continue the work and make sure our families are okay and that they feel heard,” Johnson-Law said. “We can get more help when we have a broader community working together.”
Outgoing Ward 8 State Board Representative Reflects on Next Steps
On April 5, Reid gave what she called her last budget season testimony as a state board representative during the D.C. Council’s Committee of the Whole budget oversight hearing.
Reid later confirmed to The Informer that she would in fact not be running for re-election. She said she has her sights set on working with the Ward 8 Education Council and CARE Anacostia, two education-focused groups.
“[Being] a state board representative has reinforced that you can be more impactful with community representatives who are rallying behind you, writing testimony and going to hearings,” Reid said, telling The Informer that she hopes to help her successor in a similar manner.
While Reid has yet to endorse a Ward 8 state board candidate, she said she will follow the lead of the Washington Teachers Union when they engage in that process later this year.
Upon entering her role in 2021, Reid advocated for a safe return to in-person learning. She later ramped up her work on safe passage in the aftermath of traffic incidents involving young people going to and from school. Other achievements that Reid touted include restructuring of attendance requirements, the passage of a resolution addressing sexual assaults in District schools, and expansion of out-of-school time offerings.
Reid said that, in the weeks and days leading up to the Committee of the Whole budget oversight hearing, she was preparing to celebrate these achievements in her written testimony. However, as she recounted to The Informer, cuts to safe passage and out-of-school time programming outlined in D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal changed the tenor of her message.
At this juncture, Reid said her focus lies on ensuring the continuity of programs put in place. Even in the absence of federal funds, she continues to press for the local funding of microtransit routes and training of safe passage personnel.
“We’re making gains in making sure the areas around schools are safe,” Reid said. “ I hope that we can keep moving forward with those coordination efforts,” she continued. “Attendance and school population growth are related to how safe parents and students feel. We need as much stability as possible so folks can look at Ward 8 schools as viable options for educating their children.”
The Ward 8 Education Council Makes a Post-Pandemic Re-emergence
The Ward 8 Education Council is scheduled to host an education town hall meeting on April 24 at THEARC on Mississippi Avenue in Southeast. During this event, community members will receive information about the proposed Fiscal Year 2025 budget. School leaders, elected officials and community organizations will also have a chance to glean policy recommendations from families.
The upcoming education town hall represents an effort to re-establish the Ward 8 Education Council’s presence in the education ecosystem.
Previous gatherings have allowed leadership to engage community members in fun activities and discuss the latest education trends with them. There’s also a focus on attracting members, increasing organizational capacity and informing residents about the Ward 8 Education Council’s priorities.
This year, those who attended meetings at THEARC received updates about budget hearings. Michael Grier, chairman/president of the Ward 8 Education Council, also pointed out that executive members provided clarity about truancy and chronic absenteeism in D.C. public and public charter schools while supporting Ward 8 residents who are D.C. Council public witness testimony.
Taking these efforts to the next level, Grier said, means collaboration with the Ward 8 state board representative. He told The Informer about an arrangement that’s in the works to make that person a voting executive board member on the Ward 8 Education Council.
“We’re building that relationship where [we are] working together [around] policies,” Grier told The Informer. “The state board representative, council member, and Ward 8 Education Council [help] finalize decisions and policies to support Ward 8 schools. The goal is to be the voice of our community when our leaders are making decisions surrounding education.”
