BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

AnonymousShe's a Republican running as a Democrat [/quote wrote:

Aren't BOE positions non-affilated? That's why they appear on my sample ballot even though I don't have a party affiliation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, I'm actually not really here for the crass comments about Mandel, but the substance is correct.

She's a right-wing Twitter figure with a long history of hateful rhetoric. She's a Republican running as a Democrat for political gain, and a white homeschooling parent seeking a position of authority over a majority Black/brown public school population.

Those are all disqualifying without a bunch of depersonalizing language.

Agreed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Apple Ballot looks good, https://mdappleballot.com/county-results/?cmg_mapped_districts_county_select=Montgomery+County

You really can't go wrong voting the Apple ballot.

How many of those currently on the BOE were on the Apple Ballot previously?

Yang and Rivera-Oven were last time. Harris has never been. Wolff and Evans were not the last time they ran, but may have been their first elections. Don't remember about Silvestre and Smondrowski.

[Anonymous]

AnonymousShe's a Republican running as a Democrat [/quote wrote:

Aren't BOE positions non-affilated? That's why they appear on my sample ballot even though I don't have a party affiliation.

Yes they are non-affiliated. But Mandel's campaign is labeling herself a Democrat in a cynical attempt to gain votes.

[Anonymous]

I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

I think that's quite a stretch. And Harris is actually one of the board members who has questioned central office staff the most often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

I think that's quite a stretch. And Harris is actually one of the board members who has questioned central office staff the most often.

When and where? I've streamed every public BoE meeting for the last year (since the sh*tshow of the JB scandal made it clear that my teacher friends weren't exaggerating about the Central Office) and have not seen her take a stand, nor ask follow-up questions when Central Office folks hedge/evade questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

So, Harris wants things to stay the same to keep property values from depreciating?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

I think that's quite a stretch. And Harris is actually one of the board members who has questioned central office staff the most often.

That's not true. She thinks people who complain about MCPS are doing too much and don't realize how good they have it. Hence her recent comment in a board meeting where she said, "People complain about Montgomery County Public Schools until they go somewhere else": https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1195303.page

Lynne is not willing to take MCPS to task in serious ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

So, Harris wants things to stay the same to keep property values from depreciating?

The opposite. She wants to let the Central Office continue to foist frustrating programs like RJ and honors for all on schools, always chasing the next trend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, I'm actually not really here for the crass comments about Mandel, but the substance is correct.

She's a right-wing Twitter figure with a long history of hateful rhetoric. She's a Republican running as a Democrat for political gain, and a white homeschooling parent seeking a position of authority over a majority Black/brown public school population.

Those are all disqualifying without a bunch of depersonalizing language.

Not really a fan of hers either and definitely not voting for her BUT the comments are a bit much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

So, Harris wants things to stay the same to keep property values from depreciating?

The opposite. She wants to let the Central Office continue to foist frustrating programs like RJ and honors for all on schools, always chasing the next trend

I'm fine with RJ as one of several tools to enforce reasonable discipline in addition to stricter measures when that fails.

The central office needs to be cut back to pre-McKnight levels so -30%.

We need to go in the opposite direction of honors for all and give students more choice as to rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

I think that's quite a stretch. And Harris is actually one of the board members who has questioned central office staff the most often.

That's not true. She thinks people who complain about MCPS are doing too much and don't realize how good they have it. Hence her recent comment in a board meeting where she said, "People complain about Montgomery County Public Schools until they go somewhere else": https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1195303.page

Lynne is not willing to take MCPS to task in serious ways.

No idea what she believes but there is a lot of truth to that statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know folks like to demonize the Apple Ballot, but the Apple Ballot is teachers, and teachers are not the enemy here.

So, folks like Lynne Harris don't turn up on the Apple Ballot because teachers know that she refuses to hold the Central Office accountable.

If you support teachers, who are the people who most want a BoE that holds Central Office feet to the fire, I wouldn't rule out Apple Ballot candidates.

You don't have to vote straight ticket, but look for folks who seem willing to ask hard questions and keep asking them even if Central Office folks obfuscate and lie.

I think that's quite a stretch. And Harris is actually one of the board members who has questioned central office staff the most often.

That's not true. She thinks people who complain about MCPS are doing too much and don't realize how good they have it. Hence her recent comment in a board meeting where she said, "People complain about Montgomery County Public Schools until they go somewhere else": https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1195303.page

Lynne is not willing to take MCPS to task in serious ways.

No idea what she believes but there is a lot of truth to that statement.

Cool. Then vote for her.

[Anonymous]

I think Harris has been a good advocate for raising constituents' complaints. She called out central office on their months of non-communication with Northwood in March, and that seems to have led to the recent pair of meetings during which a lot of unpopular information was finally revealed. She obviously can't snap her fingers and make all the problems disappear, but I think one of the main responsibilities of a board member is listening to the public, understanding their concerns, and getting the attention of central office staff.