BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Apple Ballot all the way. Our entire family is fed up with the crazy legacy members in office right now.

You do realize that all those incumbent members you hate were endorsed by the Apple Ballot at one time, right? You’ll be saying the same about this new slate of apple ballot candidates once they get voted in start the job.

Most were, not all.

Nobody currently on the Apple Ballot is an incumbent.

Correct. But the PP was trying to point out that many of the incumbents had been endorsed by the Apple Ballot during earlier elections, even if they were not this year or two years ago. Specifically: Evans, Smondrowski, Silvestre, and Wolff had each been on the Apple Ballot when they first ran for the board, but were not when they ran for reelection in either 2022 or 2024.

I think the Apple Ballot got it right when it endorsed these candidates.

They did! Hard to go wrong with the Apple ballot.

+1 for Shebra Evans and the others who have had the Apple Ballot endorsement. Can’t go wrong with their picks.

Nice try. The Apple Ballot has endorsed Evans's opponent Laura Stewart.

The Apple Ballot has also endorsed Shebra Evans. That endorsement was made long before Stewart decided to run for office.

It's 2024. Endorsements from past elections aren't relevant. In 2024, the Apple Ballot decided not to endorse Evans, and instead endorsed Stewart.

I’m sure they got it right just like when they endorsed Shebra Evans.

Yes, Stewart is the better choice this year, even if Evans was a reasonable choice 8 years ago. Now it's time for a change.

I would not say that is the case. While I understand the disdain for the incumbents, and Shebra by extension of being an incumbent, if you’ve seen Laura’s interviews and forum performances, there’s definitely a lot to be concerned about. She is naive, awkward and fumbles over her words quite often. Laura Stewart is most certainly a shaky candidate.

Shebra Evans cares a lot, and has learned a lot over the past 8 years, with the mentorship of ex-longtime BOE member Mike Durso to guide her. The biggest drawback to Shebra Evans was her undying loyalty to the past superintendent.

Shebra Evans is a nice person. She likes making appearances at schools and saying "Great job, thank you so much" whenever central office staff present at board meetings. However she does not ask good questions, she does not press for more information, and she does not hold MCPS accountable. She has been there for eight years, and has been like this the whole time. She has not earned a third term.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apple Ballot all the way. Our entire family is fed up with the crazy legacy members in office right now.

You do realize that all those incumbent members you hate were endorsed by the Apple Ballot at one time, right? You’ll be saying the same about this new slate of apple ballot candidates once they get voted in start the job.

Most were, not all.

Nobody currently on the Apple Ballot is an incumbent.

Correct. But the PP was trying to point out that many of the incumbents had been endorsed by the Apple Ballot during earlier elections, even if they were not this year or two years ago. Specifically: Evans, Smondrowski, Silvestre, and Wolff had each been on the Apple Ballot when they first ran for the board, but were not when they ran for reelection in either 2022 or 2024.

I think the Apple Ballot got it right when it endorsed these candidates.

They did! Hard to go wrong with the Apple ballot.

+1 for Shebra Evans and the others who have had the Apple Ballot endorsement. Can’t go wrong with their picks.

Nice try. The Apple Ballot has endorsed Evans's opponent Laura Stewart.

The Apple Ballot has also endorsed Shebra Evans. That endorsement was made long before Stewart decided to run for office.

It's 2024. Endorsements from past elections aren't relevant. In 2024, the Apple Ballot decided not to endorse Evans, and instead endorsed Stewart.

I’m sure they got it right just like when they endorsed Shebra Evans.

Yes, Stewart is the better choice this year, even if Evans was a reasonable choice 8 years ago. Now it's time for a change.

I would not say that is the case. While I understand the disdain for the incumbents, and Shebra by extension of being an incumbent, if you’ve seen Laura’s interviews and forum performances, there’s definitely a lot to be concerned about. She is naive, awkward and fumbles over her words quite often. Laura Stewart is most certainly a shaky candidate.

Shebra Evans cares a lot, and has learned a lot over the past 8 years, with the mentorship of ex-longtime BOE member Mike Durso to guide her. The biggest drawback to Shebra Evans was her undying loyalty to the past superintendent.

Shebra Evans is a nice person. She likes making appearances at schools and saying "Great job, thank you so much" whenever central office staff present at board meetings. However she does not ask good questions, she does not press for more information, and she does not hold MCPS accountable. She has been there for eight years, and has been like this the whole time. She has not earned a third term.

No, she's not entirely nice. She picks and chooses who she acknowledges. She hasn't gone to all schools and she doesn't acknowledge parents and students who testify at the BOE meetings. She is part of the current board that has failed our students and staff. ALL of them should do the right thing and resign and if not, hopefully, they will be voted out. Even if she's not the problem, she hasn't stood up for whats right and advocated for change. She goes along with what the other members do. We need someone with far more skill and force than someone who you consider is "nice" and says thank you to a select group.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apple Ballot all the way. Our entire family is fed up with the crazy legacy members in office right now.

You do realize that all those incumbent members you hate were endorsed by the Apple Ballot at one time, right? You’ll be saying the same about this new slate of apple ballot candidates once they get voted in start the job.

Most were, not all.

Nobody currently on the Apple Ballot is an incumbent.

Correct. But the PP was trying to point out that many of the incumbents had been endorsed by the Apple Ballot during earlier elections, even if they were not this year or two years ago. Specifically: Evans, Smondrowski, Silvestre, and Wolff had each been on the Apple Ballot when they first ran for the board, but were not when they ran for reelection in either 2022 or 2024.

I think the Apple Ballot got it right when it endorsed these candidates.

They did! Hard to go wrong with the Apple ballot.

+1 for Shebra Evans and the others who have had the Apple Ballot endorsement. Can’t go wrong with their picks.

Nice try. The Apple Ballot has endorsed Evans's opponent Laura Stewart.

The Apple Ballot has also endorsed Shebra Evans. That endorsement was made long before Stewart decided to run for office.

It's 2024. Endorsements from past elections aren't relevant. In 2024, the Apple Ballot decided not to endorse Evans, and instead endorsed Stewart.

I’m sure they got it right just like when they endorsed Shebra Evans.

Yes, Stewart is the better choice this year, even if Evans was a reasonable choice 8 years ago. Now it's time for a change.

I would not say that is the case. While I understand the disdain for the incumbents, and Shebra by extension of being an incumbent, if you’ve seen Laura’s interviews and forum performances, there’s definitely a lot to be concerned about. She is naive, awkward and fumbles over her words quite often. Laura Stewart is most certainly a shaky candidate.

Shebra Evans cares a lot, and has learned a lot over the past 8 years, with the mentorship of ex-longtime BOE member Mike Durso to guide her. The biggest drawback to Shebra Evans was her undying loyalty to the past superintendent.

She doesn't care nor will she vote against the other BOE members. The current BOE members, including Evans have run MCPS into the ground financially, closing vital programs, wasting money on their unnecessary pet projects, dumbing down the curriculum, allowing schools to be unsafe, and much more. They ALL need to go and be held accountable

Several of the new candidates are even worse than the incumbents.

[Anonymous]

I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apple Ballot all the way. Our entire family is fed up with the crazy legacy members in office right now.

You do realize that all those incumbent members you hate were endorsed by the Apple Ballot at one time, right? You’ll be saying the same about this new slate of apple ballot candidates once they get voted in start the job.

Most were, not all.

Nobody currently on the Apple Ballot is an incumbent.

Correct. But the PP was trying to point out that many of the incumbents had been endorsed by the Apple Ballot during earlier elections, even if they were not this year or two years ago. Specifically: Evans, Smondrowski, Silvestre, and Wolff had each been on the Apple Ballot when they first ran for the board, but were not when they ran for reelection in either 2022 or 2024.

I think the Apple Ballot got it right when it endorsed these candidates.

They did! Hard to go wrong with the Apple ballot.

+1 for Shebra Evans and the others who have had the Apple Ballot endorsement. Can’t go wrong with their picks.

Nice try. The Apple Ballot has endorsed Evans's opponent Laura Stewart.

The Apple Ballot has also endorsed Shebra Evans. That endorsement was made long before Stewart decided to run for office.

It's 2024. Endorsements from past elections aren't relevant. In 2024, the Apple Ballot decided not to endorse Evans, and instead endorsed Stewart.

I’m sure they got it right just like when they endorsed Shebra Evans.

Yes, Stewart is the better choice this year, even if Evans was a reasonable choice 8 years ago. Now it's time for a change.

I would not say that is the case. While I understand the disdain for the incumbents, and Shebra by extension of being an incumbent, if you’ve seen Laura’s interviews and forum performances, there’s definitely a lot to be concerned about. She is naive, awkward and fumbles over her words quite often. Laura Stewart is most certainly a shaky candidate.

Shebra Evans cares a lot, and has learned a lot over the past 8 years, with the mentorship of ex-longtime BOE member Mike Durso to guide her. The biggest drawback to Shebra Evans was her undying loyalty to the past superintendent.

She doesn't care nor will she vote against the other BOE members. The current BOE members, including Evans have run MCPS into the ground financially, closing vital programs, wasting money on their unnecessary pet projects, dumbing down the curriculum, allowing schools to be unsafe, and much more. They ALL need to go and be held accountable

Several of the new candidates are even worse than the incumbents.

The new candidates aren't great or have strong backgrounds but given the harm the current board has done they need to go. This year is not any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

Doesn't need the money? Do MCPS really pay that well that you can work for a few years then retire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

Doesn't need the money? Do MCPS really pay that well that you can work for a few years then retire?

Who knows her situation but she can get a job outside mcps like other boe members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

+1. MYOB, nosy PP.

[Anonymous]

The issue isnt the question, it's why do you not ask the same of every other candidate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

+1. MYOB, nosy PP.

Do you think we should get rid of all financial disclosure policies for public officials, or are you making a special exception for this case?

Do you at least agree that it would be highly inappropriate for MCEA to employ her while she serves on the board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue isnt the question, it's why do you not ask the same of every other candidate?

No other candidate is going to have to quit their job if they win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how anyone could vote for Zimmerman when she hasn't explained how she intends to support herself. How do we know the teachers union isn't going to be paying her to do what they day?

This is a bizarre question, and not an issue.

How is it not an issue? Zimmerman can't keep working as a BoE member. And tge Board position doesn't pay enough on its own. You don't think that's suspicious? Why won't she say what she intends to do?

Why are her finances and how does she support herself in your business? She can teach somewhere else? BOE members work so lots of options including MC. Maybe she doesn't need the money.

Doesn't need the money? Do MCPS really pay that well that you can work for a few years then retire?

Who knows her situation but she can get a job outside mcps like other boe members.

Another poster (who claimed to be a Zimmerman supporter) claimed MCEA was recruiting teachers to run for BoE and Zimmerman was the only one to accept. While I obviously know everything on Dcum needs to be taken with a grain of salt, the totality of circumstances suggests this could be credible. And that raises significant questions about MCEA's future role.