Press Release- Jason Crawford Runs for DC Board of Education

Washington, DC-

“Education is the civil rights issue of our generation,” according to Georgetown graduate, Jason Crawford, who announced on Monday that he is running for the Board of Education in Wards 1 and 2.

A graduate of Georgetown University, a Truman Scholar, and a graduate of Oxford University, Crawford will run as a write-in candidate for the election that will take place next Tuesday.

Crawford argues that it is a promising time to become involved in the DC education system.

“While critics maintain that Mayor Fenty’s takeover emasculated the DC Board of Education, I believe the Board still has a great opportunity to make an impact during such a promising time for D.C.’s public schools. Certainly many problems remain unaddressed, but I believe that we have a mayor, a chancellor, great teachers and principals, and most importantly, so many families that are ready to help our school system live up to its promise. It is because it is a time of such great urgency accompanied by such great promise that I want to become involved by serving on the Board of Education,” Crawford said .

Crawford is a first-year teacher at a public school in Southeast, DC, where he is currently seeking alternative certification; he highlights teacher certification as one of the major issues confronting the Board of Education.

“I am committed to making sure we have a certification system that will attract talented would-be teachers into our school system while making sure they are ready and able to give to the District’s children the education they need and deserve,” Crawford commented in a campaign flier.

As a coach, Crawford advocates for the inclusion of electives in students’ schedules and the importance of a holistic approach to education.

Background

In 2002, Crawford founded the Partnership for Athletics, Community Service and Tutoring (PACT) at Georgetown University that linked college mentors with middle school students from Southeast, D.C. In 2004 and 2005, he co-founded a Georgetown-based summer camp for the youth of the Sursum Corda neighborhood. He was also an intern on the US Senate Education committee.

During his undergraduate career, Crawford served as a teaching assistant in a Catholic elementary school in Southeast, DC, tutored in Columbia Heights, and helped run a literacy program in the Sursum Corda neighborhood of DC. He also wrote his senior thesis on the history of McKinley Tech, a high school in Northeast.

Crawford lives with his wife, Maria, in Downtown Washington.

Related links

• Know your August 21st polling place
• Check your voter registration
• Get your absentee ballot
• How to vote for a write-in candidate
• Print a voting reminder:

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