BOE - who are people voting for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What event is going on tonight? TIA.

Moderately Montgomery held a forum in Rockville for candidates.

It was a waste of time

Moms4liberty spewing.

Vote for incumbents or MOCO will be destroyed by the RW religious nuts.

Thanks. Def not voting for Moms for Liberty, but not voting for incumbents either.

Pick 3:

At Large:
Harris (incumbent)
Hidayat
Kim
Long
Mofor
Montoya


District 2:
Diaz
Mui
Smondrowski (incumbent)
Thioye - homeschools her kids
Zimmerman


District 4:

Evans (incumbent)

Mandel - homeschools her kids, Moms4Liberty

Stewart

[Anonymous]

From poster 4/15, 12:02

If folks want to see what candidates are about, you can check out the LWV video that some other PPs have referenced: https://www.youtube.com/w...TVs3hv_Peo

My take, which you can obviously take or leave:

Harris: Delivers central office talking points about "windows and mirrors." Ugh. But is in favor of expanding magnets, which is a winning approach.

Hadayat: His answer on the Black and brown students was to attack current BoE folks, who would be his future colleagues. His whole vibe is very "I am a man delivering a statement of Truth, and you should defer to me." Not a fan.

Kim: I kind of think a candidate with a laser focus on increasing academic standards would be good. Not for every single position, but one person to keep pressing that button seems like a good idea.

Montoya: More focus-grouped education babble in the intro section, but she's fast on her feet in the Q&A section, and respectful to the moderator.

Mofor: Clearly looking to use BoE as a springboard. His response on student mental health focused on PE, which was weird. In favor of parents opting kids out of books with LGBTQ characters.

Diaz: Does fine in the intro, but her answers to questions reveals her actual agenda.

Mui: There just doesn't seem to be a lot of policy substance here. He has talking points and opinions, but I didn't hear ideas. His answer on opt-out was straight-up propaganda, and clearly aimed at fear-mongering.

Thioye: I can't tell if her kids are in MCPS. She made a point of saying all of them had been in MCPS "at some point in their lives" but not that any are current students. Her talking points about the opt-out used a lot of dog whistles about "parents rights."

Zimmerman: Second grade teacher. Smart answer on mental health, with a focus on concrete policies.

Evans: "Equity Accountability Model" but no substance. Very heavy on her professional resume, mentions coming back from a junket to New Orleans. Kind of tone deaf to lean so hard on being a status quo establishment figure when people are so frustrating with the Board.

Mandel: Arrives, late, plugs her book and immediately goes on the offensive, then talks over the moderator. Refuses to specifically talk about Black and brown students, pivots to "all lives matter" sort of nonsense.

Smondrowski: In general, it feels like more of the same but then she says she's "always been a big proponent of SROs." Did she speak out against them being removed at the time? Very focused on "anti bias training" but not on repercussions for bad behavior.

Stewart: Explicitly talks about oversight, which I appreciate. Answer on mental health was specific, but seemed focused on younger kids. Other than that, pretty predictable Nice White Lady content.

[Anonymous]

^ Where is Long? He didn't show?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo 360 just published a piece on the student member of the BOE calling out MCPS for not making much progress on the security side:

https://moco360.media/2024/04/15/student-school-board-member-grills-mcps-on-slow-approach-to-school-safety/

I wish they would've asked MCPS their take on his claims, but it cements to me that I won't be voting for any incumbents.

He's not criticizing the incumbents (who agreed with him), he's criticizing central office staff.

That's fair, but it raises the question of why he's the only one doing it. It is the job of the other members of the board to be asking these questions, not just nodding along when a 17-year-old does what they should have done all along.

Because the board doesn't like to hurt MCPS staffers' feelings.

He wasn't complaining about the BOE he was complaining about central office.

Learn to read cognitively people. Jesus.

Aren't people working at central office MCPS staffers? Jesus.

BOE has plenty of trouble getting clarity from Central Office. CO are beholden to the Superintendent, not the BOE. The Superintendent is supposed to be beholden to the BOE, but look at the fix they were in with McKnight.

That said, there are BOE members who have been just fine with that, not pushing back an iota at anything questionable, and others who just have been too soft.

So BOE like getting $25k/each + benefits to do nothing? AND they hired staffers?

While in theory it may be BOE-Super-CO, it seems the reverse. McK thought this BOE would never send her packing. We still don't know exactly what happened with them and McKnight. SMH. That's our taxpayer million+ you gave out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo 360 just published a piece on the student member of the BOE calling out MCPS for not making much progress on the security side:

https://moco360.media/2024/04/15/student-school-board-member-grills-mcps-on-slow-approach-to-school-safety/

I wish they would've asked MCPS their take on his claims, but it cements to me that I won't be voting for any incumbents.

He's not criticizing the incumbents (who agreed with him), he's criticizing central office staff.

That's fair, but it raises the question of why he's the only one doing it. It is the job of the other members of the board to be asking these questions, not just nodding along when a 17-year-old does what they should have done all along.

Because the board doesn't like to hurt MCPS staffers' feelings.

He wasn't complaining about the BOE he was complaining about central office.

Learn to read cognitively people. Jesus.

Aren't people working at central office MCPS staffers? Jesus.

BOE has plenty of trouble getting clarity from Central Office. CO are beholden to the Superintendent, not the BOE. The Superintendent is supposed to be beholden to the BOE, but look at the fix they were in with McKnight.

That said, there are BOE members who have been just fine with that, not pushing back an iota at anything questionable, and others who just have been too soft.

BOE, and parents not on BOE! It's beyond ridonc contacting CO ever.

[Anonymous]

Candidate Sharif Hidayat was the only candidate that had the courage to tell the truth about the BOE. We actually need more people like him to challenge school board members. He is an outsider that hasn’t been corrupted or bought by the establishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Candidate Sharif Hidayat was the only candidate that had the courage to tell the truth about the BOE. We actually need more people like him to challenge school board members. He is an outsider that hasn’t been corrupted or bought by the establishment.

I mean, if you want someone who sees his new co-workers as the enemy on Day One, sure. But the Board of Education is a deliberative and oversight body, requiring members to work together for the common good.

I don't know if it's a habit based on his years as a cop, but Hidayat's whole demeanor felt off for the context. This is not a situation where you can walk in and immediately start ordering people around, particularly without any relevant background in education.

I would also presuppose that the most engaged voters for the Board of Elections race are going to be women, and it turns out women don't actually like being condescended to and ordered around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Candidate Sharif Hidayat was the only candidate that had the courage to tell the truth about the BOE. We actually need more people like him to challenge school board members. He is an outsider that hasn’t been corrupted or bought by the establishment.

I think we need people to challenge the superintendent's staff, not to challenge their fellow board members.

[Anonymous]

MCPS is led by a woman (Superintendent) and a school BOE made up of all women. Hard to blame a man for all the policy failures when those in charge are all woman. Sounds like we have a man hater on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sharif Hidayat and Brenda Diaz

At the candidate forum last night, Hidayat kept saying, "I feel like I am in the twilight zone." And I believe him. Hidayat likes to run for elected office. Yet, he is poorly informed and seems to have little grasp on what it takes to oversee a complex, highly regulated multi-billion dollar organization. Mostly, he is rude to other candidates.

And Diaz? She is just plain nuts.

[Anonymous]

The independent OIG report verified that the current BOE, made up of all women doesn't oversee a complex, highly regulated multi-billion dollar organization the way it should. The BOE has failed county residents, their teachers and their students. It is time for change. Vote all of the incumbents out! They are the ones that should be blamed for the mess that MCPS is in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is led by a woman (Superintendent) and a school BOE made up of all women. Hard to blame a man for all the policy failures when those in charge are all woman. Sounds like we have a man hater on this forum.

I think a lot of women have experienced, either professionally or personally, being in a space like public education, social work, nursing, or other vocations that are historically feminized and historically undervalued.

Even if we haven't been in one of those professions, most of us have been in situations where we were the subject matter expert and some dude bursts into the room like the Kool-Aid Man claiming to have all the answers but with none of the background or context.

If I were on this guy's campaign team, I would remind him that he's running for school board, not Sheriff of MCPS. I would also remind him that tone matters, and that coming off as a nightmare colleague in what is essentially a job interview is a bad look.

[Anonymous]

The OIG report proved that the current BOE members failed to provide proper oversight of the system.They all need to be replaced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OIG report proved that the current BOE members failed to provide proper oversight of the system.They all need to be replaced.

I realize this is your talking points and you are sticking to it, but replacing all of the board members is not one of our choices. There are 8 BoE members. Only 3 are up for re-election this cycle.

Even if every single incumbent loses, the folks we elect in 2024 are still going to need to work with the folks elected in 2022. The next two years are going to be vital for MCPS, and we don't have time to lose on culture war grandstanders, folks using BoE as a political stepping stone, or candidates who are coming in so antagonistic that they won't be able to cooperate with their colleagues to get things done.

I'm not happy with the current board, either, and am unlikely to vote for most of the incumbents. But I also very much want MCPS to succeed, for the sake of my own kids and our collective kids. This means I need to identify candidates who are solution-oriented, good team players, and actual believers in public education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The OIG report proved that the current BOE members failed to provide proper oversight of the system.They all need to be replaced.

I realize this is your talking points and you are sticking to it, but replacing all of the board members is not one of our choices. There are 8 BoE members. Only 3 are up for re-election this cycle.

Even if every single incumbent loses, the folks we elect in 2024 are still going to need to work with the folks elected in 2022. The next two years are going to be vital for MCPS, and we don't have time to lose on culture war grandstanders, folks using BoE as a political stepping stone, or candidates who are coming in so antagonistic that they won't be able to cooperate with their colleagues to get things done.

I'm not happy with the current board, either, and am unlikely to vote for most of the incumbents. But I also very much want MCPS to succeed, for the sake of my own kids and our collective kids. This means I need to identify candidates who are solution-oriented, good team players, and actual believers in public education.

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