Babur Lateef seeks second term as school board chairman

Prince William County School Board Chairman At-large Dr. Babur Lateef will seek a second term overseeing the school board as its At-large chairman, leading the state’s second-largest public school division while representing the entire county.

The pandemic consumed Lateef’s second term. The school division scrambled to help students and teachers adjust to online learning and then adjust to getting them back into school buildings as the pandemic waned.

The Democrat pushed the division to be the first public school division in the Washington, D.C. area to return children to the classroom, in phases, in December 2020. He later took heat from fellow Democrats for his push to return children to the classroom.

Once back in the classroom, children wearing facemasks became a hot-button issue, with parents and students lined up to protest at school board meetings. Eventually, the school division dropped its mask requirement before joining others in Northern Virginia in filing a lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin, which sought clarification from the state after Youngkin signed an executive order in January 2022 making masks in schools optional.

An Arlington County judge sided with the school divisions. The General Assembly struck down mask mandates only weeks later with a new law.

After the pandemic, the school division turned its attention to an effort to allow collective bargaining for teachers and other school employees. Lateef and the school board created a framework allowing collective bargaining in schools.

Last month, the Prince William Education Association, the county teachers union, won a bid to become the exclusive bargaining agent for school employees.

A consistent advocate for increasing the school division’s $4 billion budget, Lateef said only more funding from lawmakers in Richmond, not collective bargaining, will improve schools.

The most recent round of Virginia Standards of Learning student test scores show improvement for Prince William County Public Schools but the scores still lag behind 2019’s.

In 2021, Lateef was on the hiring panel that lured Dr. LaTanya McDade from Chicago Public Schools to lead the county school division, replacing Dr. Steven L. Walts, who led the division for 15 years.

Here’s his full reelection campaign announcement:

I am proud to announce that I will be seeking a second term as Chair At-Large of the Prince William County School Board. We have accomplished so much together and we are going to advance even further in the next four years.  ??Our students have many more opportunities to learn, shine, and succeed. ?Our teachers’ salaries have steadily and significantly increased.

Our parents are engaged at every level of their student’s education. ??And our community has seen our school division rise in the rankings (NICHE rankings from 26 to 17th best in the Commonwealth in my term), recognized as a great place to work (Forbes Magazine) and realizing a wonderful reputation.

We have done this because of, and with, all of you.  We have addressed student success, safety and security, space and infrastructure, sustainability, and salaries of our employees.??We have become a destination school district for all, but we are not done yet. Along with pandemic recovery we still have work to do in all categories, and I will not rest until every student and family has the opportunities and means to succeed. ??I will continue to fight to fully fund our schools and advocate for all of our students and families. I will fight to make sure we have strong leadership and a continued investment in our kids and teachers. I know our success is boundless when we work together, and when we all believe in all of our children.

As a proud parent of four PWCS students, a product of public schools from kindergarten through medical school, a physician, and a public servant, I understand the value of our school system and the awesome responsibility to care for it. I have governed with this in mind and I will continue to put our students and families at the forefront of all that we do.

Please join our campaign to ensure the children of Prince William County reach their destinations and realize their dreams.

Onward.