Cassandra Mayes, a longtime educator and political newcomer, made history Tuesday as the first Black woman and first Democrat elected to represent House District 71, which includes Maumelle and surrounding communities.
Mayes says she was inspired to run after Arkansas LEARNS led to cuts in her contract as a district-level administrator for the Little Rock School District, forcing her to leave a career she loved to care for her ailing mother. Now she’s headed to the Capitol with plans to challenge LEARNS, starting with greater accountability for private schools receiving public money through vouchers.
Mayes faced an uphill battle in the Republican-held district, although her opponent, Stephen Bright, was dogged by allegations of domestic and child abuse that likely cost him the race.
In an interview with the Arkansas Times, Mayes describes how she refused to let the scandals surrounding her opponent derail her campaign, and how she plans to challenge Arkansas LEARNS in a newly emboldened Democratic minority.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
AT: Congratulations.
Mayes: Thank you so much. I’m still trying to process everything.
AT: At what point last night did you realize you were going to win, and what was your reaction?
Mayes: I had been at the polls until about 7 o’clock, and I came home and got dressed, and I was going to kind of take my time before I went down to Mosaic Templars after the polls closed, and one of my team members had called me and said, “Cassandra, where are you?” I could tell in his voice that he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. I promised myself I would not check my phone or TV. And when I got to Mosaic Templars and was walking towards the war room, it was very quiet, and it concerned me. When I walked in, they said, “Cassandra, you did it.” I lost it. I cried. I knew we had a chance to flip the seat, but I just wasn’t sure because it had never been done before out here in Maumelle.
I lost it. I cried. I knew we had a chance to flip the seat, but I just wasn’t sure because it had never been done before out here in Maumelle.
Cassandra Mayes
AT: You’re a political newcomer. What do you want readers to know about you?
Mayes: I had personal experiences that brought me to this point. I did not grow up in a political family. Politics was close, but it wasn’t close enough for me to even have a desire. I saw it from afar, but what happened at the state level brought those experiences to me. One impacted my career that I worked very hard for and absolutely loved, and the other impacted the person that I loved the most, other than my child, and that was my mother. And those two issues collided at the same time. When my job was in jeopardy because of Arkansas LEARNS, and my mother entered a healthcare system that was not fair to her because of her pension as a retired educator, I knew that I could either talk about it and be angry or be a part of the solution.
AT: Can you be more specific about how LEARNS put your own job in jeopardy?
Mayes: Yes, so when Arkansas LEARNS hit my employer [Little Rock School District], we were experiencing a decline in student enrollment prior to it hitting, and so when it hit, we had parents that were leaving the district, going to private charter-schools, and so the Education Freedom Accounts, the vouchers, basically were being utilized more. When you’re losing students, that impacts staffing and even facilities. So, my contract was substantially cut, going from a 12-month to a 10-and-a-half month employee, and the money loss basically equated to the money I was using to pay someone to stay home with my mother while I worked.
I had to make a financial decision for my family to leave a career that I absolutely loved, but to take care of someone I loved more. And it’s something that I should not have had to do. I should have been able to continue to work, but also have someone that I trusted to stay with my mom. But I couldn’t afford it, and she didn’t qualify for support.
AT: What do you want to accomplish at the Capitol to strengthen public schools, and what do you think can realistically be done to push back on LEARNS?
Mayes: The first thing we need to do is have a courageous conversation of what’s going on statewide. In education, you’re taught in college that decisions you make regarding curriculum, even budgetary decisions at the school level, are data-driven, and under Arkansas LEARNS, we do not have data to support whether our schools and students are making progress because the assessment that is used is an assessment that was created for Arkansas and Arkansas only.
Under LEARNS, people are asking the question: People are utilizing the vouchers for school choice, but are the students performing at a rate that supports the need to continue the voucher program? Because parents using school choice make those decisions allegedly on academic progress and lack thereof, and under LEARNS, we have no system in place that shows us where a third grader is performing in a public school, a charter school, a private school or home school. At this point, we have no data to show how kids are performing across all of those educational options, and that is something that we must change. I support any entity that receives public funds should be held to the same standard as a public school.
AT: Democrats flipped several seats in the state legislature last night. Obviously, they did very well across the country. But what do you think this means for the balance of power in Arkansas, and what realistically do you think will shift maybe because of the party picking up some seats last night.
Mayes: We did pick up some seats we were not expecting to pick up, so that means we were able to break the [Republican] supermajority in our legislature. What that tells us is that there is a level of synergy across the state, where we have been challenged as newly-elected officials. It also told the Republicans that people are not happy, and that change has to take place, and it’s telling all of us that we’re going to have to come together and have some conversations, and we’re going to have to make decisions outside of our personal opinions and focus on the people of this state.
Last night told all of us a clear story that change was necessary. Change is here, and we’ve got to deal with it. And in order for us to change policies in place that will make people have a better quality of life, lower the cost of living, all of us are going to have to work together to come up with solutions.
AT: You’re the first Democrat and the first Black woman representing your district. What does being the first mean to you? And what do you want people to know about the area that you represent?
Mayes: I’m humbled and feel blessed to have been entrusted with this position in an area that is around 69% white, and the African-American population makes up less than 20%. And to be the first, I realize that there is probably a level of expectation that surpasses those that have been before me. But I’m ready to take on the challenge.
AT: There were really serious, disgusting allegations against your opponent. What was it like campaigning under those circumstances and how do you think that played a role in the results?
Mayes: From a campaign perspective, we kept campaigning. It never really factored to me that I needed to do anything different, or I needed go in a different direction. I knew that people were counting on me to continue to run a campaign of integrity, a campaign of facts and truth, and that was my goal from Day One, and that’s what I continued to do. There were moments where I did receive messages that I felt were inappropriate and unnecessary, but I understand the climate that we’re in. People may not have understood or were angry about the outcome, but I knew that people were counting on me.
AT: What are you doing to celebrate?
Mayes: I am going to have a small intimate gathering for my volunteers, who are really the real winners in this particular situation. They took a chance on me. They worked tirelessly. They deserve all of the praise. It’s a small group, but we’re small and mighty, and that’s how I want to celebrate. I want them to know how much they mean to me and how much they mean to this district. Because if it were not for them, we wouldn’t be here. This campaign is so much bigger than me, because now there are people that have felt as if they had had no voice that now have a voice at the table.
So, come January, I have a lot of work to do, but I’m ready to support my colleagues and to educate others about what’s really going on in the schools, how teachers are really feeling, and how students are really performing. I’m excited about the opportunity.
