Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for Maryland's open Senate seat, says public education "is personal" to her. But as public schools in Alsobrooks's jurisdiction woefully underperformed state standards, Alsobrooks chose to send her own daughter to an elite private school in Washington, D.C., where tuition is far beyond what the average Marylander can afford.
Alsobrooks quietly sent her daughter, Alexandra Alsobrooks-Laney, to study at ritzy private schools as she publicly professed her dedication to public education as Prince George's County executive, a position she's held since 2018. At the start of her term, Alsobrooks's daughter attended Holy Trinity, a private Episcopal school for children up to eighth grade that charges tuition of over $15,000 per year. Upon Alsobrooks-Laney's graduation from Holy Trinity in 2019, the school reported that she would be attending high school at Georgetown Visitation, an elite, all-girls Catholic school in Washington, D.C., that costs over $37,000 per year to attend.
Alsobrooks-Laney appears to have thrived at Georgetown Visitation, with public records showing she was a member of the school's cross-country and track teams. When the school held its graduation ceremony for the class of 2023 on June 6 that year, Alsobrooks, who was attending the ceremony, posted on social media that her daughter's future "is so bright."
Today is my daughter's High School graduation day. To say I'm proud would be an understatement.
This is only the beginning of everything you're going to accomplish, and I will forever be by your side to watch you do big things. Your future is so bright my girl. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/pZKH3ushru
— Angela Alsobrooks (@AlsobrooksForMD) June 6, 2023
The same can't be said for students attending public schools under Alsobrooks's watch.
Prince George's County public schools at all levels have woefully underperformed state standards for academic achievement since Alsobrooks took office as county executive in 2018, according to data compiled by the Maryland Department of Education.
In the 2022-2023 school year—the year that Alsobrooks's daughter graduated from Georgetown Visitation—Prince George's County public high schools failed to meet state standards for any academic indicators, including academic achievement and graduation rate, and failed to log any year-over-year improvement in "school quality and student success."
On the campaign trail, however, Alsobrooks has presented herself to Maryland voters as a champion of Prince George's County public schools, frequently touting the construction of new schools under her watch and promising voters that she will "prioritize access to public education to ensure every student gets a fair shot at success."
"Preserving public education is personal to me," Alsobrooks posted on X in May. "As County Executive, I built 10 new schools, providing our students with critical resources."
Alsobrooks is facing an unexpectedly tight race for Maryland's open Senate seat against Larry Hogan, a popular two-term former governor who seeks to be the first Maryland Republican elected to the Senate since 1980.
Alsobrooks's ties to Washington, D.C., extend beyond her daughter's attendance at Georgetown Visitation. Between 2005 and 2017, Alsobrooks improperly claimed a tax exemption for a property in the district that she took over from her grandparents, shaving off tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes. Alsobrooks was hit in early October with a $47,580 bill for the unpaid taxes and interest owed.
"Angela is the proud mother of an incredible 19-year-old daughter," Alsobrooks campaign spokeswoman Meredith Happy told the Washington Free Beacon. "Republicans using the waning weeks of a campaign to attack Angela’s daughter is beyond the pale and wholly representative of what their party has become."