BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

I don't see any conflict of interest. The president works for MC, who gets a huge amount of funding from MCPS. That's a conflict of interest. Why is that Ok?

That's less of a direct conflict of interest than a teacher or MCEA employee.

But sure, let's use that as an example. Would it be appropriate for Silvestre to hide her position at Montgomery College? It's right there in her BoE biography.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking forward to Montoya taking out Harris.

A teacher who has worked at North Chevy Chase Elementary School for many years told me that Montoya, when she was NCC’s PTA President in 2023-2024, bullied teachers and abused her position in the PTA. “ … she bullied a first year teacher to the point of tears during parent - teacher conferences. That young woman has since left teaching all together. She tried to get the much beloved interim principal, Matt Johnson, fired. Matt used to be the principal at Eastern MS. She blocked him from attending PTA meetings, and she bounced parents she didn’t like from the PTA Zoom mtgs. She couldn’t fill five of the ten PTA board positions b/c so few wanted to work with her. There were no cultural arts programs last year. She flouted the PTA bylaws and refused to resign her position as NCC PTA prez when she decided to run for BoE. The Culture & Heritage (formerly known as International Night) was a hot mess. She wasn’t happy with what the teachers organized for the 2023 event, so she decided to take command of the 2024 event. She ended up using every single activity that the teachers used in 2023.” When she found out that the NCC community was upset over her handling of the Culture and Heritage Night, she got her husband to submit a Maryland Public Information Act request for all emails from NCC staff that mentioned the event as an intimidation tactic. The teacher also said "The MCEA building reps for NCCES chose not to bring forward a motion to ask MCEA to rescind their Apple Ballot endorsement of Montoya. They are too scared of retribution. It's really sad. I worked at this school for 25 years. These are good people. They do not deserve to be treated this way by anyone, much less a candidate for BoEducation."

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to vote for someone who treated teachers in her kids’ school like that.

The word from various members of the teachers' union is that they now regret endorsing Montoya. In its anger at the current BOE and a desire to endorse a candidate they could control, the union chose Montoya, a know-nothing who had a few months' experience as president of an elementary school PTA (with all her problematic behavior in that role, as noted above) to recommend her.

This year, her elementary school has a full complement of leadership in its PTA; Montoya had numerous open leadership positions in the PTA when she was its president.

One of the things that successful elected officials on a board have to do is to figure out how to get along with each other, negotiate, and educate other members about key issues. I see nothing from Montoya that suggests she is capable of doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking forward to Montoya taking out Harris.

A teacher who has worked at North Chevy Chase Elementary School for many years told me that Montoya, when she was NCC’s PTA President in 2023-2024, bullied teachers and abused her position in the PTA. “ … she bullied a first year teacher to the point of tears during parent - teacher conferences. That young woman has since left teaching all together. She tried to get the much beloved interim principal, Matt Johnson, fired. Matt used to be the principal at Eastern MS. She blocked him from attending PTA meetings, and she bounced parents she didn’t like from the PTA Zoom mtgs. She couldn’t fill five of the ten PTA board positions b/c so few wanted to work with her. There were no cultural arts programs last year. She flouted the PTA bylaws and refused to resign her position as NCC PTA prez when she decided to run for BoE. The Culture & Heritage (formerly known as International Night) was a hot mess. She wasn’t happy with what the teachers organized for the 2023 event, so she decided to take command of the 2024 event. She ended up using every single activity that the teachers used in 2023.” When she found out that the NCC community was upset over her handling of the Culture and Heritage Night, she got her husband to submit a Maryland Public Information Act request for all emails from NCC staff that mentioned the event as an intimidation tactic. The teacher also said "The MCEA building reps for NCCES chose not to bring forward a motion to ask MCEA to rescind their Apple Ballot endorsement of Montoya. They are too scared of retribution. It's really sad. I worked at this school for 25 years. These are good people. They do not deserve to be treated this way by anyone, much less a candidate for BoEducation."

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to vote for someone who treated teachers in her kids’ school like that.

The word from various members of the teachers' union is that they now regret endorsing Montoya. In its anger at the current BOE and a desire to endorse a candidate they could control, the union chose Montoya, a know-nothing who had a few months' experience as president of an elementary school PTA (with all her problematic behavior in that role, as noted above) to recommend her.

This year, her elementary school has a full complement of leadership in its PTA; Montoya had numerous open leadership positions in the PTA when she was its president.

One of the things that successful elected officials on a board have to do is to figure out how to get along with each other, negotiate, and educate other members about key issues. I see nothing from Montoya that suggests she is capable of doing this.

Ugh, what a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking forward to Montoya taking out Harris.

A teacher who has worked at North Chevy Chase Elementary School for many years told me that Montoya, when she was NCC’s PTA President in 2023-2024, bullied teachers and abused her position in the PTA. “ … she bullied a first year teacher to the point of tears during parent - teacher conferences. That young woman has since left teaching all together. She tried to get the much beloved interim principal, Matt Johnson, fired. Matt used to be the principal at Eastern MS. She blocked him from attending PTA meetings, and she bounced parents she didn’t like from the PTA Zoom mtgs. She couldn’t fill five of the ten PTA board positions b/c so few wanted to work with her. There were no cultural arts programs last year. She flouted the PTA bylaws and refused to resign her position as NCC PTA prez when she decided to run for BoE. The Culture & Heritage (formerly known as International Night) was a hot mess. She wasn’t happy with what the teachers organized for the 2023 event, so she decided to take command of the 2024 event. She ended up using every single activity that the teachers used in 2023.” When she found out that the NCC community was upset over her handling of the Culture and Heritage Night, she got her husband to submit a Maryland Public Information Act request for all emails from NCC staff that mentioned the event as an intimidation tactic. The teacher also said "The MCEA building reps for NCCES chose not to bring forward a motion to ask MCEA to rescind their Apple Ballot endorsement of Montoya. They are too scared of retribution. It's really sad. I worked at this school for 25 years. These are good people. They do not deserve to be treated this way by anyone, much less a candidate for BoEducation."

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to vote for someone who treated teachers in her kids’ school like that.

The word from various members of the teachers' union is that they now regret endorsing Montoya. In its anger at the current BOE and a desire to endorse a candidate they could control, the union chose Montoya, a know-nothing who had a few months' experience as president of an elementary school PTA (with all her problematic behavior in that role, as noted above) to recommend her.

This year, her elementary school has a full complement of leadership in its PTA; Montoya had numerous open leadership positions in the PTA when she was its president.

One of the things that successful elected officials on a board have to do is to figure out how to get along with each other, negotiate, and educate other members about key issues. I see nothing from Montoya that suggests she is capable of doing this.

If this is true, then the Apple Ballot is worthless, cause there's no rigor or serious vetting behind who they pick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

[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.

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.

What about Laura Stewart makes you think she has "far more skill and force"? If she's not reading prepared remarks, she stumbles all over her words and struggles to make a point. Nothing I've seen from her participation in various candidate forums has left me with the impression that Stewart is "skilled and forceful". She seems like a really nice person but in over her head for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Don't be obtuse. Nearly 80% of her donations come from teachers' union members. She's not saying what's going on, but it is pretty clear who she intends to represent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Don't be obtuse. Nearly 80% of her donations come from teachers' union members. She's not saying what's going on, but it is pretty clear who she intends to represent.

A teacher who gets donations from other teachers??!!!! The horror!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

Yes, Natalie Zimmerman is a loyal union member. She is also an experienced teacher, and can bring that experience to bear on the board of education. But really, what is the choice here? You can vote for Brenda Diaz, who is a combative lunatic, or Natalie Zimmerman, who can make a substantive contribution to the board's work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

Yes, Natalie Zimmerman is a loyal union member. She is also an experienced teacher, and can bring that experience to bear on the board of education. But really, what is the choice here? You can vote for Brenda Diaz, who is a combative lunatic, or Natalie Zimmerman, who can make a substantive contribution to the board's work.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

Yes, Natalie Zimmerman is a loyal union member. She is also an experienced teacher, and can bring that experience to bear on the board of education. But really, what is the choice here? You can vote for Brenda Diaz, who is a combative lunatic, or Natalie Zimmerman, who can make a substantive contribution to the board's work.

Diaz won't be able to cause any harm because the other board members and central staff will block her.

The same isn't true for Zimmerman. If you're a parent, you really ought to be concerned about whether she will push policies that are good for students, or will she pusb policies that are for teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

Yes, Natalie Zimmerman is a loyal union member. She is also an experienced teacher, and can bring that experience to bear on the board of education. But really, what is the choice here? You can vote for Brenda Diaz, who is a combative lunatic, or Natalie Zimmerman, who can make a substantive contribution to the board's work.

Diaz won't be able to cause any harm because the other board members and central staff will block her.

The same isn't true for Zimmerman. If you're a parent, you really ought to be concerned about whether she will push policies that are good for students, or will she pusb policies that are for teachers.

MCPS has 136 elementary schools and hasn't had anyone on the board in years who has recent experience with them. That's how we ended up with curricula like the now-abandoned Benchmark, because no one had a clue. As a parent, I would be grateful to have an ES teacher with a seat at the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is Zimmerman or her campaign staff trying to dismiss concerns about her running for the BOE while being a teacher, which is a legitimate conflict of interest to raise, come with a better strategy. The current approach is unpersuasive.

It is not a conflict of interest at all.

Of course it is. That's why she is going to have to resign.

The question was about running for the BOE while being a teacher, and there is no expectation of resigning unless she would win the election, in which case she would need to resign before being sworn in.

You're being pedantic. The conflict of interest continues if MCEA is going to pay her while she's on the BoE.

And there is no evidence to suggest that they would or will! Stop making things up.

Right, we don't know one way or the other because she won't say. But we have good reason to think MCEA recruited her to run, and we know she'll be out of a job if she wins. We also know Jennifer Martin and David Stein were some of her first campaign contributors.

Yes, Natalie Zimmerman is a loyal union member. She is also an experienced teacher, and can bring that experience to bear on the board of education. But really, what is the choice here? You can vote for Brenda Diaz, who is a combative lunatic, or Natalie Zimmerman, who can make a substantive contribution to the board's work.

Diaz won't be able to cause any harm because the other board members and central staff will block her.

The same isn't true for Zimmerman. If you're a parent, you really ought to be concerned about whether she will push policies that are good for students, or will she push policies that are for teachers.

That is a pretty damning recommendation for Diaz, who would waste the time of the BOE and the CO staff as she would re-litigate all her past personal grievances with MCPS if she is elected to the BOE.

Elementary school teachers are the warriors of educators. They prepare the most hours of daily curriculum of any teacher. I would like someone with that experience on the BOE so I am voting for Zimmerman.