T A L B O T C O U N T Y B O A R D O F E D U C A T I O N · N O V E M B E R 3
By Peter Gorman · Talbot County Parent, McDaniel
Four in Five Talbot Students Cannot Do Grade-Level Math. It Is Time to Replace Emily Jackson and Amy Dodson.
Barely a point a Year- Starting from 20%
In 2025–26, 20.7% of Talbot County students were proficient in math. Four out of five could not do math at their grade level. Four years earlier the figure was 17.2% — a gain of 3.5 points in four years, barely a point a year, from a starting point already among the lowest in Maryland.
At that pace, Talbot needs roughly six more years just to reach the math proficiency Maryland has already reached today. My younger child starts pre-K next year, and would finish high school before this district got half its students to proficiency. That is not progress. It is a district standing still and calling it movement.
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Reading is worse, because there Talbot is actively losing ground. In 2022–23 the district trailed the state in English by 1.8 points. It now trails by 4.9. Maryland gained 5.4 points over those four years; Talbot gained 2.3, less than half.
Talbot gained 2.3, less than half.
Emily Jackson has sat on this board since 2018 and is its president. Amy Dodson has served since 2022 as vice president. Reviewing these results, Jackson said of a neighboring county pulling ahead:
“I want to know why.”
Emily Jackson, board president
Talbot families have been asking her that question for eight years.
A Board that finds out Last
Last fall, the principals of Easton High and St. Michaels High began refusing to record any grade below 50% — including for work never turned in. They did it without the superintendent's approval, and the board learned of it only after it was already in force at both high schools.
The board's leaders knew it was wrong.
“Pretty significant overreach.”
Amy Dodson, board Vice President
“A misstep.”
Emily Jackson, board President
“Our taxpayers are not happy. I’m not happy.”
Deborah Bridges, board member
“It’s lowering our standard. Students are not trying in class anymore.” Elmer Pineda, student board member
The practice stayed in place anyway. In January, board member Ann O’Connor moved to rescind it immediately. Dodson had said she “did not disagree” with O’Connor’s critique. She then voted no. Jackson abstained. The motion failed, and the floor stood for the rest of the semester. A policy ending it did not reach even a first reading until April, roughly seven months after the practice began, and did not take effect until this school year-after a full year of grades had already been recorded under the floor.
setting the agenda is the job
A board president sets the agenda; a vice president helps set it. Together they decide what the board examines, what it demands of the superintendent, and how fast it moves when something goes wrong. Jackson and Dodson hold both offices.
What happened instead is what reactive oversight looks like: a board that waits to be told rather than asking, deliberating on the timescale of a school year while students are inside it. Talbot's results are what that governance produces — a point a year, from 20%, and the two members who lead this board treating that as something other than an emergency.
I am not running for anything and not speaking for anyone. I am a parent who asked. I read the state’s own data, followed school board meetings in person and online, and put my questions to the superintendent and her top county advisors. Twice in public comment I left my contact information and asked a board member to reach out. None did. The only replies came from employees, not from the people voters elect. Nothing they told me convinced me those numbers will move. These two seats are not on my ballot, but the decisions made in that room reach very classroom my children sit in.
that is why, if you vote in District 3 or district 4, i am asking you to do what I cannot: vote Emily jackson and amy dodson out of office on november 3.
On November 3, vote for new leadership.
District 4: Vote out Emily Jackson · District 3: Vote out Amy Dodson
SOURCES · MD State Dept. of Education, "2025–2026 MCAP Results," State Board of Education, 7/28/2026 (2024–25 and 2025–26 Talbot figures; all statewide figures). Talbot 2022–23 figures (math 17.2%, ELA 44.5%) from The Star Democrat, "Talbot school board sees test scores, improvement initiatives."
Quotations from The Star Democrat ("Talbot school board criticizes high schools for 50% minimum grading practice"; "…remain 'at odds' over 50% grading minimums"; "…dives into test score trends") and Talbot Spy ("Talbot School Board Wrestles with Grading Changes," 4/16/2026; "A Grading Policy Update"; "Grading Policy Draws Scrutiny at Talbot School Board Meeting"). Roll-call vote from the Talbot County Board of Education meeting recording, January 14, 2026, at 1:45:22 (board YouTube channel).
Peter Gorman is a Talbot County Public Schools graduate. He lives in McDaniel and now has two children in the district.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Peter Gorman's Document in its original formatting is here:
