Diana Hawley, president of the Cecil County Board of Education, was sworn in October 20, 2025, as president of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, succeeding St. Mary’s County school board chair Karin M. Bailey in the role that guides statewide advocacy for public schools. The ceremony occurred during MABE’s Annual Conference 2025, a two-day gathering October 20-21 at the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel that drew more than 200 attendees, including school board members, superintendents and state education officials.
Hawley, who joined the Cecil County board in 2018 and assumed its presidency in 2022, steps into the position for the 2025-2026 term with a focus on securing resources and equitable opportunities for students across Maryland’s 24 local school districts. A graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a concentration in child development, Hawley spent years as an early childhood educator, preschool director and early intervention specialist. She earned the Maryland State Department of Education’s Parent Involvement Matters Award for her community efforts.
Her election highlights a transition from Bailey, who led MABE during the 2024-2025 term after her own swearing-in on October 8, 2024. Bailey, representing District 3 on the St. Mary’s County Board of Education since her 2022 election, chaired her local board amid efforts to address enrollment shifts and facility needs in a district serving over 17,000 students. Under her tenure, St. Mary’s County Public Schools implemented a new cell phone policy to enhance classroom focus and launched a redistricting initiative for the 2026-2027 school year, incorporating community feedback on boundaries and potential consolidations to manage budget constraints.
The conference, themed around governance and innovation in public education, featured sessions on legislative priorities and equity strategies. Presentations from the event, including those on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform law, are available for download through MABE’s resources. The gathering underscored MABE’s role since its founding in 1957 as a unified voice for local boards, comprising all 24 Maryland districts and emphasizing access to academic, social and economic supports for student success.
Also sworn in were MABE’s new officers: Brenda Wolff of Montgomery County as president-elect, Karen Yoho of Frederick County as treasurer, and Jolene Mosley of Howard County as secretary. The incoming Board of Directors includes 12 members from 11 counties and Baltimore City, ensuring broad representation in policy discussions.
MABE Executive Director Milt Nagel praised Hawley’s selection. “At MABE, we’ve seen up close Diana’s rock-solid commitment to Maryland students and public schools,” Nagel said. “Her extensive experience in Maryland’s education community means she brings a valuable first-hand perspective to MABE members’ collective work championing excellence in Maryland public education. Despite such challenging times for public education as a whole, we see great things ahead under her collaborative, innovative leadership.”
Hawley’s priorities align with MABE’s ongoing push for sustained state and local funding increases, particularly to implement the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a 2021 overhaul mandating higher per-pupil spending, prekindergarten expansion and career programs. The association advocates restoring the maintenance-of-effort escalator, a mechanism that tied local funding growth to inflation for a decade before its phase-out, to prevent shortfalls in districts like those in Southern Maryland. In St. Mary’s County, where enrollment projections show modest growth to about 17,500 students by 2025, recent challenges include a 27 percent pay gap for teachers compared to peers with similar qualifications, contributing to staffing shortages. The district’s 2024-2025 annual report highlighted initiatives like the SMECO Elementary Math Challenge, which engaged 241 students from 18 schools in April 2025, as efforts to boost achievement amid fiscal pressures.
Southern Maryland districts, including St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties, rely on MABE for navigating these issues. The region’s schools face unique demands from a growing retiree population and federal workforce at sites like Naval Air Station Patuxent River, which influences family mobility and enrollment. MABE’s legislative positions for 2024 emphasized local governance authority to tailor policies, such as those for facility master plans, directly benefiting areas like St. Mary’s, where a 2024 Educational Facilities Master Plan projected needs for capacity adjustments through 2030.
Hawley, a resident of Cecil County with her husband and two children — both graduates of local public schools — has served on MABE’s Board of Directors since 2021 and multiple Cecil County committees. She also participates in the county’s Youth Empowerment Source Youth Coalition and the Chamber of Commerce’s Government Relations Committee, roles that inform her statewide work.
The association’s efforts extend to professional development, with services like legal updates and equity training provided to members. As Hawley assumes leadership, MABE continues to lobby for policies that address teacher retention and resource allocation, critical in Southern Maryland where state aid comprises a significant portion of budgets. For instance, St. Mary’s schools processed prekindergarten applications for 2025-2026, aiming to expand access under Blueprint mandates despite competing priorities like redistricting studies launched in September 2025.
This leadership change occurs as Maryland public education grapples with post-pandemic recovery and funding debates in the 2025 General Assembly session. MABE’s structure, with five standing committees on policy, finance and more, positions it to influence outcomes that ripple to local boards. In St. Mary’s, Bailey’s outgoing term leaves a foundation of community engagement, evident in platforms like “SMCPS: We HEAR” for feedback on operations.
For more on MABE, visit its website at https://www.mabe.org/.
