Each year, the Board elects its leadership from among its members, selecting officers who will help guide the Board’s oversight and accountability responsibilities. On March 9, the Board elected:
Shukurat Adamoh Faniyan as Chair
Michelle Yan as Vice Chair
Carisa Stanley Beatty as Treasurer
Maura Marino as Secretary
Together, the officers will help guide the Board’s work to ensure strong oversight and continued support for quality public charter schools serving students across Washington, DC.
Focusing on Accountability and Choice
For more than two decades, public charter schools have played a transformative role in Washington, DC’s education landscape. Today, nearly half of the city’s public school students attend public charter schools. The sector has grown through a combination of innovation, strong community partnerships, and a strong accountability system designed to ensure that students have access to quality learning environments.
The Board plays an essential role in maintaining those standards—setting policies, reviewing school performance, and making decisions that support both excellence and transparency across the sector.
As Chair, Shukurat Adamoh Faniyan brings a unique perspective shaped by her personal and professional experiences in education. A product of the DC public school system, she has also dedicated her career to education as a teacher, school leader, and nonprofit leader working to expand opportunity for students.
Her connection to the system is also deeply personal—as the parent of a young child now navigating the same DC education system that shaped her.
Looking Ahead
As the charter sector continues to evolve, the Board remains focused on ensuring that every school delivers strong academic outcomes for students.
That means maintaining a rigorous accountability system, supporting strong governance across Local Education Agency (LEA) boards, and continuing to strengthen the sector that allows quality schools to thrive.
The work ahead will require collaboration across the education ecosystem—among school leaders, educators, families, policymakers, and community partners—all working toward the shared goal of improving outcomes for students.
Remarks from the New Chair
In her first remarks as Chair, Shukurat Adamoh Faniyan reflected on the responsibility of the role and the work ahead:
“First, I want to thank my fellow board members for the confidence you’ve placed in me to serve as Chair of the Public Charter School Board. It is truly an honor to step into this role alongside such thoughtful and committed colleagues, and I am deeply grateful for the trust you’ve shown.
I also want to acknowledge the broader charter school community—our school leaders, educators, families, and most importantly, the students whose futures sit at the center of everything we do. And I want to recognize the members of our LEA governing boards across the city, who volunteer their time and expertise to steward their schools and support strong outcomes for students.
For more than two decades, charter schools have played a transformative role in Washington, D.C.’s education landscape. They were founded on the belief that innovation, accountability, and strong partnerships with communities could expand opportunity for students across our city.
That belief continues to guide this work today.
But honoring that legacy also requires a willingness to continue strengthening the systems that ensure excellence for every student. A sector committed to opportunity must also be committed to reflection, learning, and continuous improvement.
And that commitment will guide my work as Chair.
There is important work ahead of us.
We must continue to focus on the performance of schools across the charter sector—frankly, it has to improve. Every student in this city deserves access to a high-quality learning environment where they are growing academically and prepared to succeed in the future.
As a Board, working in partnership with the agency, we have a responsibility to set the conditions and policies where excellence can thrive. That means using the tools available to us thoughtfully and responsibly: closing underperforming schools, establishing clear policies with strong expectations, maintaining a rigorous accountability system, and committing to transparency—sharing information, learning from one another, and driving continuous improvement across the sector.
Before I go further, I want to share that both my appointment to this Board—and now the opportunity to serve as Chair—are deeply meaningful to me, both professionally and personally. I carry a deep sense of gratitude, humility, and responsibility for the work before us.
I am a proud product of the DC public education system. As a student, I witnessed the early days of the charter sector in this city. I remember hearing my parents talk about the promise of these new charter schools and wondering what this new landscape of opportunity might mean for our family.
Today, I experience that system through another lens—as a mom to a little girl who is now navigating the same DC education system that shaped me.
And in between those experiences lies my life’s work—as a teacher, school leader, and nonprofit leader—dedicated to ensuring that every student has access to a high-quality education, regardless of where they live or how they learn.
That perspective grounds me deeply in this work. It reminds me that the decisions we make in rooms like this are never abstract. They shape the daily experiences, opportunities, and futures of students and families across Washington, D.C.
I also want to thank Dr. Walker-Davis and the entire PCSB staff. Your dedication, expertise, and steady leadership sustain this work every single day.
And the truth is—none of us does this work alone.
Progress will require all of us: board members, educators, school leaders, policymakers, governing boards, families, community partners, and students themselves—working together with a shared sense of purpose.
During my tenure as Chair, I look forward to working closely with my fellow Board members; with Dr. Walker-Davis and the PCSB staff; with leaders across the charter sector and the governing boards that steward their schools; with city leaders and partners; and with the families and communities who care deeply about the future of public education in this city.
Together, we have the opportunity to strengthen trust, reaffirm our commitment to quality, and ensure that the charter sector continues to grow and evolve in ways that best serve the students and families of Washington, D.C.
And to the students of this city, I want you to know this: you deserve nothing less than our very best—our highest expectations, our strongest partnerships, and our unwavering commitment to your success.
As we move forward, my hope is that we carry forward the very best of what has been built over the past two decades while embracing the responsibility—and the opportunity—of continuing to strengthen this system for the future.
Because at the end of the day, the work before us is about ensuring that the public education system in Washington, D.C. continues to grow in ways that honor the brilliance, potential, and aspirations of the students it serves.
That responsibility is one I carry with deep humility—and with great optimism for what we can accomplish together.”