BOE election candidates 2024

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going through all 24 pages to see if she was mentioned, but Melissa Kim is running for at-large.

https://www.washingtoninformer.com/dcps-deputy-chancellor-melissa-kim-announces-resignation/

Yes, discussed briefly when Kim filed. Folks on DCUM were watching candidacy filings by the minute until last night's deadline. Here's the list that was posted.:

In District 2:
Brenda M. Diaz
Ricky Fai Mui
Rebecca Smondrowski
Aby Thioye

In District 4:
Shebra Evans
Bethany Mandel
Laura Stewart

At Large:
Lynne Harris
Sharif Hidayat
Melissa Kim
Jonathan Long
Fitzgerald Mofor
Rita Montoya

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stewart has worked tirelessly to secure funding for MCPS schools, particularly for renovations, rebuilds, and new buildings. It is absolute drudgery and “grunt” work. If you think someone who has volunteered for years to learn the ins and outs of school funding, and to lobby for adequate funding, is an “insider” so be it. But as I look at the list of individuals challenging the incumbents I see nobody else who knows the system as well as Stewart. Given the state of affairs, I’d like to have somebody on the board who isn’t a complete novice.

Continually voting for incumbents and people who “know the system” is what got us into this mess to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stewart has worked tirelessly to secure funding for MCPS schools, particularly for renovations, rebuilds, and new buildings. It is absolute drudgery and “grunt” work. If you think someone who has volunteered for years to learn the ins and outs of school funding, and to lobby for adequate funding, is an “insider” so be it. But as I look at the list of individuals challenging the incumbents I see nobody else who knows the system as well as Stewart. Given the state of affairs, I’d like to have somebody on the board who isn’t a complete novice.

I see someone who knows the system very well, didn’t speak up for any of the victims, and continues to be mild in her criticism of the BOE. Funny how much that sounds like the current members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going through all 24 pages to see if she was mentioned, but Melissa Kim is running for at-large.

https://www.washingtoninformer.com/dcps-deputy-chancellor-melissa-kim-announces-resignation/

Yes, discussed briefly when Kim filed. Folks on DCUM were watching candidacy filings by the minute until last night's deadline. Here's the list that was posted.:

In District 2:
Brenda M. Diaz
Ricky Fai Mui
Rebecca Smondrowski
Aby Thioye

In District 4:
Shebra Evans
Bethany Mandel
Laura Stewart

At Large:
Lynne Harris
Sharif Hidayat
Melissa Kim
Jonathan Long
Fitzgerald Mofor
Rita Montoya

One more filed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stewart has worked tirelessly to secure funding for MCPS schools, particularly for renovations, rebuilds, and new buildings. It is absolute drudgery and “grunt” work. If you think someone who has volunteered for years to learn the ins and outs of school funding, and to lobby for adequate funding, is an “insider” so be it. But as I look at the list of individuals challenging the incumbents I see nobody else who knows the system as well as Stewart. Given the state of affairs, I’d like to have somebody on the board who isn’t a complete novice.

I see someone who knows the system very well, didn’t speak up for any of the victims, and continues to be mild in her criticism of the BOE. Funny how much that sounds like the current members.

What has Shebra Evans done?

Or do you prefer the candidate who wants to dismantle the public school system altogether?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

Lawsuit seems pretty reasonable to me. “ The lawsuit makes two allegations. First, it cites a June 2023 meeting of the school board in which physical attendance was limited due to a very large anticipated crowd. Foldi and Mandel, along with many members of the public, were prevented from physically entering the hearing room and the suit alleges that violated their First Amendment rights as well as the Maryland Open Meetings Act. Second, the suit claims that Mandel was blocked from “an official MCPS X account” run by a group of six MCPS teachers.”

I think the BOE has a long way to go with transparency and openness with the community. It’s unfortunate that it’s going to take people suing the system to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

Lawsuit seems pretty reasonable to me. “ The lawsuit makes two allegations. First, it cites a June 2023 meeting of the school board in which physical attendance was limited due to a very large anticipated crowd. Foldi and Mandel, along with many members of the public, were prevented from physically entering the hearing room and the suit alleges that violated their First Amendment rights as well as the Maryland Open Meetings Act. Second, the suit claims that Mandel was blocked from “an official MCPS X account” run by a group of six MCPS teachers.”

I think the BOE has a long way to go with transparency and openness with the community. It’s unfortunate that it’s going to take people suing the system to get there.

Whatever your opinion about her lawsuits, she's a terrible candidate for BoE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

A disagreement with the types of books MCPS decides to keep out of its libraries is not a “blatant conflict of interest”. I don’t agree with her stance on books generally but trying to donate books to a library and then disagreeing with the response from the school system of “no thanks” is not a conflict. It’s a disagreement.

Frankly, while I disagree with most of what she stands for, I’m looking forward to her playing a foil to shebra evans and Laura Stewart, two pro-mcps/boe lifers, during the election. I just wish there were more middle ground candidates who have the management and organizational leadership background that the BOE desperately needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

A disagreement with the types of books MCPS decides to keep out of its libraries is not a “blatant conflict of interest”. I don’t agree with her stance on books generally but trying to donate books to a library and then disagreeing with the response from the school system of “no thanks” is not a conflict. It’s a disagreement.

Frankly, while I disagree with most of what she stands for, I’m looking forward to her playing a foil to shebra evans and Laura Stewart, two pro-mcps/boe lifers, during the election. I just wish there were more middle ground candidates who have the management and organizational leadership background that the BOE desperately needs.

It's not a conflict of interest because there's no such thing as a conflict of interest for a candidate for elective office. If she were a member of the Board of Education, while suing the Board of Education, that would be a problem.

Regardless, the last thing we need is a Moms4Liberty school board member.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

A disagreement with the types of books MCPS decides to keep out of its libraries is not a “blatant conflict of interest”. I don’t agree with her stance on books generally but trying to donate books to a library and then disagreeing with the response from the school system of “no thanks” is not a conflict. It’s a disagreement.

Frankly, while I disagree with most of what she stands for, I’m looking forward to her playing a foil to shebra evans and Laura Stewart, two pro-mcps/boe lifers, during the election. I just wish there were more middle ground candidates who have the management and organizational leadership background that the BOE desperately needs.

It's not a conflict of interest because there's no such thing as a conflict of interest for a candidate for elective office. If she were a member of the Board of Education, while suing the Board of Education, that would be a problem.

Regardless, the last thing we need is a Moms4Liberty school board member.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

A disagreement with the types of books MCPS decides to keep out of its libraries is not a “blatant conflict of interest”. I don’t agree with her stance on books generally but trying to donate books to a library and then disagreeing with the response from the school system of “no thanks” is not a conflict. It’s a disagreement.

Frankly, while I disagree with most of what she stands for, I’m looking forward to her playing a foil to shebra evans and Laura Stewart, two pro-mcps/boe lifers, during the election. I just wish there were more middle ground candidates who have the management and organizational leadership background that the BOE desperately needs.

It's not a conflict of interest because there's no such thing as a conflict of interest for a candidate for elective office. If she were a member of the Board of Education, while suing the Board of Education, that would be a problem.

Regardless, the last thing we need is a Moms4Liberty school board member.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not going through all 24 pages to see if she was mentioned, but Melissa Kim is running for at-large.

https://www.washingtoninformer.com/dcps-deputy-chancellor-melissa-kim-announces-resignation/

Yes, discussed briefly when Kim filed. Folks on DCUM were watching candidacy filings by the minute until last night's deadline. Here's the list that was posted.:

In District 2:
Brenda M. Diaz
Ricky Fai Mui
Rebecca Smondrowski
Aby Thioye

In District 4:
Shebra Evans
Bethany Mandel
Laura Stewart

At Large:
Lynne Harris
Sharif Hidayat
Melissa Kim
Jonathan Long
Fitzgerald Mofor
Rita Montoya

One more filed

What race and who?

[Anonymous]

New, complete list with Natalie Zimmerman added in district 2:

In District 2:
Brenda M. Diaz
Ricky Fai Mui
Rebecca Smondrowski
Aby Thioye
Natalie Zimmerman

In District 4:
Shebra Evans
Bethany Mandel
Laura Stewart

At Large:
Lynne Harris
Sharif Hidayat
Melissa Kim
Jonathan Long
Fitzgerald Mofor
Rita Montoya

[Anonymous]

I don't know enough about any of the District 2 challengers. Anyone have any insights about them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bethany Mandel is running.

Yes. THAT Bethany Mandel. https://www.bethany4boe.com/

For the uninitiated, Bethany is a homeschool mom with no direct experience with MCPS. She speaks at Moms for Liberty events and tries to promote the idea that public school is liberal indoctrination.

She also has two blatant conflicts of interest. She is currently suing MCPS over what she claims is a violation of open meetings rules. Her legal team works for Stephen Miller’s organization. https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/11/14/national-right-wing-group-sues-mcps/

She is also the editor for a series of children’s books and she has publicly complained that MCPS doesn’t put the books in media centers. https://nypost.com/2022/11/19/maryland-school-district-with-lgbtq-book-list-rejected-books-promoting-american-values/

A disagreement with the types of books MCPS decides to keep out of its libraries is not a “blatant conflict of interest”. I don’t agree with her stance on books generally but trying to donate books to a library and then disagreeing with the response from the school system of “no thanks” is not a conflict. It’s a disagreement.

Frankly, while I disagree with most of what she stands for, I’m looking forward to her playing a foil to shebra evans and Laura Stewart, two pro-mcps/boe lifers, during the election. I just wish there were more middle ground candidates

What kinds of issues/positions do you see as middle ground?

who have the management and organizational leadership background that the BOE desperately needs.

Any names you would like to have seen? Maybe they could run as write-ins or look to the next cycle. Or be considered in the unlikely event that the County Council does something more about the obvious oversight failures than simply showboat the current crisis.