Jeana Ross, key leader in Alabama’s Pre-K success, enters House District 27 race

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January 15, 2024

Another special election in Marshall County is inbound after State Rep. Wes Kitchens (R-Arab) made a successful bid for the State Senate last week.

This morning, Jeana Ross, who served as Secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education under two governors, announced her candidacy for the vacancy in House District 27.

Ross, a Republican of Guntersville, who earned the state’s “First Class” pre-kindergarten program recognition as the best in the nation for the 14th consecutive year, said she’s ready to continue her leadership in the Alabama Legislature — on a wide range of pressing issues.

“As a career educator, continuing Alabama’s improvements in our public schools is a passion of mine, but I will also focus on other important issues like combatting illegal immigration, creating jobs, and protecting our traditional morals and conservative values,” Ross said.

“I believe strongly that if we begin teaching our children essential life skills at an early age, they will be prepared to fill long-lasting, well-paying, 21st Century jobs as adults, which keeps Alabama’s economy growing well into the future.”

A veteran of education policy, Ross pointed to her accomplishments in Alabama classrooms — noting that the availability of quality early childhood education programs grew from 217 classrooms when she took office in 2012 to 1,250 classrooms across all 67 counties when she ended her tenure in 2020 — an increase of 470 percent.

Her political acumen as a “committed Christian conservative” is also a point of pride for Ross. She served as the Chair of the Marshall County Republican Party, a member of the Alabama Republican Party executive committee, and has worked to elect dozens of GOP candidates to office on the state and local level.

Ross began her 26-year career in public education as an elementary school classroom teacher in Jackson County in 1975, and, after taking a break to start a family, later moved into administrative positions in the Marshall County, Boaz City, and Madison County school systems.

She’s a graduate of the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, and the University of Alabama with a master’s degree in education leadership.

She and her husband, Carey, have two sons and twin grandchildren.

Grayson Everett is the state and political editor for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @Grayson270