Raaheela is a lifelong Prince Georgian and a product of the public school system. She first ran for office as an 18-year old underdog and anti-establishment figurehead in 2012. She lost that election by 3%, ultimately coming back the following cycle to secure a grassroots victory - 32,000 supporters strong. She was subsequently re-elected to the Board of Education in 2020. In 2022, she made her first bid to represent us in the State Senate – and came within 2% of victory. Over the course of her campaigns and board service, Raaheela has gone door-to-door to 12,000 homes and attended 500+ events to better understand the needs of our community. As our next State Senator, she will work even harder to be the advocate our district deserves.
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Raaheela is the community leader, advocate and activist that our community needs and deserves. Over her tenure as our school board member, she has successfully fought for those issues that matter to us. She will continue to do so as our next State Senator.
Watch any board meeting. Raaheela is always asking tough questions to hold our system accountable. She is a meticulous worker, and is steadfast in bringing issues to light, even if it is unpopular. Raaheela was one of the few board members in 2017 that blew the whistle on fraudulent graduation rates in the county.
Raaheela has attended or led over 500 community events to inform the community about the work of the school district, and to stay engaged in decision-making. She started a task force to address the school boundary issue in our community. Each year, she convened parent organization leaders from across the district. She also organized student shadow days and established the District 5 Student Leadership Council.
In 2018, Raaheela introduced our district’s first ever resolution for Black Lives Matter Week of Action at Schools. It passed multiple years thereafter. As the policy committee chair, she led passage of excused absences for student participation in civic engagement activities. Every year, she advocated for purchasing culturally responsive textbooks. In 2020, Raaheela introduced a resolution to non-renew the district’s agreement to have armed police officers based inside our schools, which gained the support of the majority of the board.
As someone who organized for union formation at a previous workplace, Raaheela has been, and will always be, an advocate for paying our employees well. She was one of the few board members that came out publicly advocating for restoring lost employee pay steps from the last recession.
Raaheela made several successful budget amendments over the years, including adding an additional $4.25 million for maintenance needs, securing more school psychologist positions, and including funding for LGBTQ+ staff training. She also co-sponsored the resolution that made financial literacy a graduation course requirement for high school students.
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