Ward 7 State Board of Education (SBOE) Representative Eboni-Rose Thompson launched her reelection bid this summer proud of what she considers the state board’s most productive years in the era of mayoral control of public schools.
If reelected, Thompson’s areas of focus include the creation of various pathways to high school graduation for special education and vocational education students, and the expansion of proximate swing space for Ward 7 school modernization projects coming down the pike.
Those goals, she said, will build upon victories she and her colleagues secured over the last four years in the realms of financial literacy and social studies standards, increasing latitude for accumulation of community service hours, and better menstrual health accommodations.
Such milestones, Thompson said, wouldn’t have been possible without state board engagement with students, parents and community members.
“I worked really hard — and was successful — in actually getting funding so we could have an actual communications staff to push information, or a special education hub so those voices are included in the conversation,” Thompson told The Informer.
Thompson also spoke about her on-the-ground advocacy.
“I’m someone who goes out to schools and creates other opportunities to engage. We’re making our meetings more broadly accessible and building our student representation,” Thompson said.
Over the last few months, Thompson has engaged education officials in discussions around the modernization and relocation plans for J.C. Nalle Elementary School. Earlier this month, she visited Eliot-Hine Middle School during back-to-school night, during which she recalled seeing the execution of the new social studies standards that SBOE shaped in collaboration with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE).
During the latter part of August, Thompson, president of the state board, saw the fruits of her labor for expanded student representation when she swore Calique Barnes, a senior at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School, in as one of four SBOE student representatives.
“We made a recommendation to make voices from east of the Anacostia River part of that,” Thompson said. “We built those positions and have more students on our Student Advisory Committee than we ever have who dive in and weigh in on everything before it’s passed. It’s about building the capacity and putting more people in place and at the table.”
In regard to her challengers, Charles Boston, Toni Criner, and write-in candidate Sherice Muhammad, Thompson didn’t have much to say, telling The Informer, “I can’t speak to other people’s specific concerns.”
Sherice Muhammad: A Write-In Candidate Representing Parents
Muhammad officially launched her write-in campaign in the aftermath of ballot petition challenges that have taken her and D.C. Board of Elections (DCBOE) all the way to the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Earlier this summer, former Ward 2 advisory neighborhood commissioner James Harnett challenged 15 signatures that Muhammad collected on the grounds that they were fabricated.
DCBOE would later deny Muhammad ballot access, saying that though the petition signers lived in Ward 7, they no longer lived at the address that DCBOE had on file. D.C. Superior Court later upheld DCBOE’s decision on the basis that Muhammad didn’t submit enough address change forms to DCBOE.
Such a rationale, Muhammad said, made no sense when she and her campaign team did their due diligence.
“I personally verified every signature before turning in petitions, and struck the names of every signer who wasn’t on that registry,” Muhammad said. “Those who were submitted are indeed active Ward 7 voters. It is unfortunate that Mr. Harnett is someone who can bring a challenge against our Ward 7 voters without one shred of proof.”
Harnett didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Muhammad told The Informer that neither DCBOE nor D.C. Superior Court thoroughly considered her perspective on the matter. DCBOE, she said, didn’t allow time for her witnesses, including an advisory neighborhood commissioner and an employee of a senior living community that facilitated her appearance before a group of elderly voters, to provide testimony.
She said those who were present stood ready to declare the validity of their signatures under oath. “These Ward 7 voters were denied [the platform] to testify,” Muhammad told The Informer.
The Informer unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from DCBOE.
As Muhammad recounted, she and DCBOE reached an impasse on Sept. 4 and the agency floated the idea of Muhammad withdrawing her name from the ballot. She said she refused out of a desire to gain clarity from the courts and DCBOE, on the record, about if, in fact, she erred in her collection of her petition signatures.
The turn of events, Muhammad said, disenfranchises the multigenerational group of Ward 7 voters who expressed support for her campaign through the ballot petition process.
“This fight is not about Sherice Muhammad, it’s about Ward 7 residents,” Muhammad said. “I argued my case, to the extent that it was met with radio silence during the board hearing and conference. This translates to others from outside of the ward, who don’t know the Ward 7 constituency, interfering in the ballot access part of the process.”
Muhammad, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner and former Local School Advisory Team (LSAT) member for McKinley Technology High School in Northeast, said that her decision to run stemmed from her years of study of Ward 7 schools’ standardized testing data, starting in 2015, when then-Chancellor Kaya Henderson shuttered 20 low-performing, under-enrolled public schools, five or which where located in Ward 7.
The lack of English and math proficiency, she said, lies at the feet of the state board, which she said hasn’t been able to effectively use its seemingly limited power to organize community members to effect change.
“I take offense with the state board’s defeatist position, that it could only do this or that,” Muhammad said. “There are certain ground games that have to take place in terms of expectations of our students. It might be an advisory role, but you still have a voice. We have to do better and what we’re producing is unacceptable.”
If elected, Muhammad’s goals include bolstering Ward 7 LSATs and parent-teacher organizations while bringing the state board in closer contact with the community.
Such organization and collaboration, she said, would pave the way in increasing civic engagement while addressing issues of school safety, truancy, teacher retention, and lack of enthusiasm for attending Ward 7 schools.
“We have a great number of schools. They need the support and mobilizing of the greater Ward community,” Muhammad said. “Just because parents can’t attend meetings or write a check doesn’t mean they don’t care. Those of us who can attend, we can take what interests and concerns you. As fellow parents, we have to look out for one another. The greater community has a role.”
Charles Boston Gives the Ward 7 SBOE Race Another Go
Boston, a staunch advocate for vocational education, secured 7.12% of the vote when he ran against Thompson, Don Trell Smith and then-SBOE Ward 7 Representative Karen Williams during the 2020 state board races.
He said he’s giving the electoral process another shot with a wealth of knowledge under his belt as a father of four children, one of whom is in his senior year and another who has an Individualized Education Program, also known as an IEP.
If elected, Boston’s plans include bringing state board meetings into Ward 7 communities, closest to where people are experiencing issues. He said it’s the least he could do as a member of a body lacking authoritative power.
“The state board…wasn’t designed to solve the problems, and no one talks about that,” Boston said, critical of what he calls the board’s ineffective bully pulpit power.
“It’s there as a vehicle to make it appear that the public can get involved,” Boston continued. “The state board has advisory authority but it doesn’t press the council about issues like it should. There’s context as to why our young people have given up.”
In the weeks since declaring his candidacy, Boston has taken to social media, asking Ward 7 residents about their visions for quality education.
Since 2020, Boston has attempted — twice — to change the tide with ballot initiatives calling for the introduction of vocational training as early as sixth grade. DCBOE denied those efforts, saying it was subject to appropriation. He has also taken dozens of young people under his wing as they pursue careers as arborists.
As Boston explained to The Informer, his goal centers on ensuring that young people are equipped with the skills to participate in the economy of developing cities like D.C. “Could you imagine what D.C. would be like if high schools had robust landscaping programs?,” Boston said. “The support for programming has not been there at all. Things needed to address crime lie in employment.”
Toni Criner Eyes a State Board Pivot
Criner, SBOE’s former interim ombudsman for public education, said, if elected, she will leverage her professional experience to advocate for all District students, especially those who are in foster care and enrolled in education programs while in custody. She expressed a desire to ensure that, upon their transition to a traditional school setting, they can quickly get acclimated and fulfill their education goals.
“I’m not coming in to be the superhero, but I do believe in aggressive advocacy,” Criner said, criticizing what she called the incumbent’s advocacy efforts. “It takes more than a few times a year to advocate for particular changes that need to happen in our ward. I participated in administrative meetings with the state board leadership team and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. Never once have I heard our Ward 7 representative advocate for Ward 7 specifically.”
Before joining SBOE’s Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education, and later serving as the interim ombudsman, Criner spent more than a decade in the D.C. public school system, where she served as a ninth grade academy administrator and Pathways Program coordinator, among several other roles.
In her role as interim ombudsman for public education, Criner directed the special education hub. That’s where she helped secure more than $500,000 in local funds for the 2025 fiscal year. As parents of students with disabilities fought for adequate transportation, Criner also produced two policy recommendations around student safety and engagement and improving OSSE’s Department of Transportation.
She said that, if elected, she would like to keep pursuing adequate transportation for students with disabilities in collaboration with OSSE, especially in light of its recent leadership change.
Other issue areas that Criner noted include truancy, school modernization projects, increasing quality middle school options in Ward 7, and further strengthening the state board’s relationship with OSSE and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education.
She said that she will do so within the first 100 days of her term, first by ensuring that Interim State Superintendent Dr. Antoinette Mitchell moves forward the goals that the state board and OSSE solidified under her predecessor Dr. Christina Grant.
Criner also said she will connect with the Ward 7 council members, educators and community members.
“If we’re saying we want to represent the people, we have to be more proactive in sharing the trends around the ward and making policy recommendations for the ward’s issues,” Criner said.
“I don’t see an opportunity for our Ward 7 residents to write testimony [and] advocate for legislative support. It’s about working with the council bimonthly, and not just during hearing season, and working with the mayor’s team and council members to make sure those legislative changes are implemented.”