Board of Education Candidates to Discuss Their Platforms

Candidates vying for the District 2 seat on the Prince George's County Board of Education will square off Wednesday during the College Park City Council work session.

The two candidates will take questions from a select group of press and other city officials invited to attend the session. If you have a question, let Patch know, and we'll make sure it gets asked.

The candidates, Mark Cook, College Park City Council member for District 3, and Margaret "Peggy" Higgins, director of College Park's Youth and Family Services, are both well-known College Park officials.

If elected, candidates will face an uphill battle in turning a challenged school system around. The Prince George's County school system is ranked among the lowest in the state.

In June, the county's school board adopted a $1.63 billion budget, a cut of nearly 5 percent from previous spending levels. Furlough days were instituted, hundreds of jobs are expected to be cut and class sizes are expected to grow. 



But both candidates say that they are up for the challenge.

Running for the school board was never a part of Higgins' career plans. The Greenbelt resident has served as director of Youth and Family Services for 20 years. But colleagues convinced her to redirect her passion for helping children and families toward education.

"I know there's going to be a big learning curve if I'm successful," said Higgins, referring to her candidacy. "But I also know an awful lot on the practical level about schools. When you are talking about children and families, you are talking about education."

Despite her lack of political expertise, Higgins' knowledge of education and education policy is vast, she said.

She has a master's degree in social work from Catholic University and has spent more than 30 years advocating on behalf of children and families.

The focal point of Higgins' campaign is cultivating "school we have confidence in."

"Parents and families need to have confidence that the schools are going to be able to challenge and educate their children fully," Higgins said. "Some schools, people feel confident in, but they certainly don't feel confident in the system. That's our No. 1 challenge."

Cook, who joined the city council in 2007, was elected to a second two-year term last November. If he wins the school board seat in the fall, Cook would be required to leave the city council; there would be a special election to fill the vacant seat.

Cook's decision to run for the school board was predicated on his role as a new father.

"I want to ensure that my son, along with every child in Prince George's County, has the same educational opportunities that I did to fulfill his or her potential," Cook said.

If elected, Cook promises to work to promote smaller class sizes, fight to maintain current funding and staffing levels, find ways to retain skilled instructors and protect the programs that position the school system for future growth and improvements.

A graduate of public schools, Cook seeks to give all students in the Prince George's system, regardless of circumstances, the chance to develop the skills they need to succeed.

"Between now and Nov. 2, I will be going door-to-door to listen to [the public's] concerns and making this campaign about our children," Cook said.

Cook, a resident of College Park, serves on the board of the Prince George's Family Crisis Center, and he served as the Chair of the College Park Advisory Planning Commission.

Cook also served as the co-chair of the Public Affairs Group of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce, an organization that works to educate elected officials on issues of economic development.