More than 80 community members joined Riley at our first town hall of the cycle on Thursday night at the Easton Community Center. The conversation ran an hour over scheduled time — and we still didn’t get to every question.
Here’s what we heard.
The most-asked question: teacher retention
Eight separate parents and two current teachers raised some version of the same question: Why are we losing teachers in the middle of the year?
Riley’s answer was direct. The compensation gap is real, but the bigger driver — based on her time on the school board — is paperwork-and-mandate fatigue. Teachers want to teach. They didn’t sign up to administer the state’s testing regime or document every behavioral incident in triplicate.
“Recruit and retain teachers with real classroom autonomy. That’s the priority. Pay matters. So does respect.”
The loudest applause: vocational pathways
When Riley laid out her commitment to restoring vocational and trade pathways in every District 14 high school, the room erupted. This came up specifically from parents of high schoolers who don’t see college as the right next step.
The current state policy of pushing every kid toward four-year college has left too many kids without a pathway and too many local employers without skilled workers. Riley’s plan would partner with the Maryland community-college system and local trades unions to rebuild the pipeline.
The hardest question
A grandmother stood up near the end and asked: “What if I’ve got a grandson who’s reading two grades below where he should be? What can you actually do about it from Annapolis?”
Riley didn’t dodge. She talked about her proposal to hold districts accountable on reading by grade 3 — with state-funded intervention coaches, not state-mandated punishment. She also said something important: “I can’t fix this from Annapolis alone. But I can be the partner the principals and the teachers can call.”
What we’re taking away
- Teacher autonomy is a more powerful issue than teacher pay alone
- Vocational pathways are a winning policy with both parents and employers
- Reading-by-grade-3 resonates as a measurable, accountable commitment
- The community wants partnership from Annapolis, not directives
We’ll be back at the same room on June 12 for the next town hall — this time on healthcare. RSVP here.
