2024 General Election Candidate Profile: Javanese Hailey For Manassas School Board

Sep 21

6 min read

Patch asked candidates for mayor, Manassas City Council and Manassas School Board to fill out a candidate questionnaire with the same questions. Here are some of Javanese Hailey's responses:

Name

Javanese Hailey

Office Sought

Manassas City School Board

Campaign Website

Haileyforschoolboard.com

Age (As of Nov. 5 election)

Education

B.A. in Sociology and M.Ed, with a concentration in middle school math

Occupation

Math Teacher, Fairfax County Public Schools

Family

I am the proud mom of one 12 year old daughter.

Why are you seeking this office?

As a first generation college graduate, born and raised in the South Bronx, I believe in the transformative power of a strong education. I was afforded educational opportunities that allowed me to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Education by the time I was 22 years old and move out of a neighborhood that was plagued with drugs, crime, and poverty. As a 10 year old, I remember the feelings of despair and heartache as a result of my mother going missing, never to be seen again. In the face of this adversity, I showed up to school everyday. The teachers expected me to do my work, they saw that I had potential, and they didn’t lower their expectations due to my circumstances. As I looked around as a teacher working in Manassas City Schools, I saw the opposite happening in our system. Too many academic and disciplinary standards were being lowered and I felt compelled to speak out and say, “This is not right. Our kids deserve better.”

I truly believe our students can be better served by raising the bar, and it starts at the top with the school board. We need leaders to stand up for high expectations and accountability, and our students will rise to the bar that we set for them. No more excuses; we need to get to the hard work together, and that’s what I stepped up to do. I decided to leave my job in MCPS and run for office after I approached the school board about systemic problems on multiple occasions but the board was not interested in listening except for a single member. So, I took a leap, jumped in this school board race to work for change and have never regretted one minute of running on behalf of our students.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

I am an active parent of a school-aged child, and I am the only candidate in the race who has worked at an MCPS school while my daughter was a student there while also serving as a PTO officer.

Additionally, I am the only person in the race who has spent my career teaching middle school math, and I am the only person in the race who has worked for other school systems in our region in addition to working at MCPS. Lagging math achievement is a continuing problem at our middle and high school levels. Considering that only 31% of our seventh graders are at grade level, I believe I can use my experience with math curriculum, math SOLs, and knowledge of best practices gained from working in higher-performing divisions in our region to deliver effective oversight in this area. A lot of what the school board does is provide accountability and oversight, and I have personally seen what does and doesn't work within our school system compared to what others do in our region.

What do you see as the top issues facing your city, and how do you address them in your campaign platform?

My campaign platform has three pillars: High Expectations for Academic Achievement; Recruitment and Retention of High Quality Teachers; and Student Safety and Stronger Discipline. Our community deserves schools that are fully accredited and have the best interests of our kids and Manassas City in mind. Currently, our high school and middle school are only "accredited with conditions" and are falling short of full state accreditation. In comparison, all of our neighboring Manassas Park schools are fully accredited.

As a school board member, I would focus relentlessly on tasking our central office personnel with ensuring that a rigorous curriculum is aligned both horizontally and vertically throughout the entire K-12 system, especially during the transition years between schools. Our current Cycle that Works initiative is a good beginning, but more needs to be done to improve our students’ basic skills in the earlier grades so that they reach middle school ready for the higher learning demands. Right now, that is where the gap occurs, and clearly our current practices, especially in math, are not working. We need to fix that.

Additionally, we continue to struggle to meet the needs of our special education and English Learner populations. This is where our teacher shortage is most critical. We can recruit people to fill these positions, but they won’t stay if they don’t have the proper support. I would encourage the system to adopt a staffing model that allows for a full-time department chair in both departments so those teacher-leaders are freed up from teaching responsibilities and can focus on the numerous administrative tasks and oversight responsibilities required by the state and federal governments in those departments. This is a model that FCPS has used for years, and it can work here in Manassas, as well. I would also create a task force in response to the annual School Climate and Working Conditions Survey that teachers are required to complete. In my experience, nothing ever changes after the results of the survey. It’s time to stop ignoring teachers’ voices in solving the City’s problems and cultivate their teachers’ strengths instead.

Finally, our community deserves schools where any parent would feel comfortable sending their children, knowing that safety and discipline are prioritized. As many parents have reported to me on the campaign trail, too many classrooms experience disruptions to learning, our hallways can be chaotic places for students to navigate, and behaviors on the buses too often lead to unsafe driving conditions for our drivers. The political conversations around restorative justice and the school-to-prison pipeline have served as a distraction to what students actually need: Boundaries. Students respond to adults who show them they care by setting boundaries. This is what creates a safe learning environment. Until we get serious about the boundaries, we will continue to struggle as a school system.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Given the current teacher shortage and endless teacher turnover, the fact that I have stayed in the profession for over 21 years speaks as a testament to my resolve and resilience. Over the years, I have served as a mentor teacher, and I will use my training as a mentor to guide the way I govern. I have experience across multiple school systems – and I have a wealth of knowledge that I can apply to MCPS. We do have our own unique needs, so while it is useful to look at other models, we also need to draw from our own creative capacities here in the City. I am a problem-solver by nature and my years in the classroom have provided me with many opportunities to develop alternative solutions to the challenges that I know teachers face everyday. My biggest accomplishment, though, is being a mother. My daughter challenges my assumptions everyday, and I see the world through her eyes. Knowing that young people like her all over the city put their hopes in me to improve our schools, I will never give less than 100% to my role as a board member.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

When I moved to Manassas as a first time homeowner, I was full of excitement. I left my position with Arlington Public Schools so that I could take a job at Metz and be part of this school community so close to my home. During that first year, my excitement turned to concern when I encountered the systemic challenges that Manassas faces. I discovered there was such a thing as “Move Before Metz” in our city. It was heartbreaking to hear that other families felt they needed to leave the city before their children entered the middle school where I worked. If our schools aren’t accredited, it’s a deterrent to many young families who prioritize good schools when they are purchasing a home. I don’t want Metz or any school in Manassas to continue to have this reputation. This is my home. I have chosen to stay and to roll up my sleeves to make the changes necessary for a fully thriving school system.