Got the MD Board of Education absentee ballot today. Who will be least likely to raise taxes?

[Anonymous]

I have to pick one for the board of BOE (13 candidates) and another for district 4. Who is least likely to have ideas that'd cause an increase in taxes? I think they're high enough already, thus I want to pick candidates who'll promote more efficiency, less spending, demand more out of what we have, and less taxation. Who fits that bill? I have no idea who these people are.

[Anonymous]

None of them will raise your taxes. Not one. It's not in the power of the BoE to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of them will raise your taxes. Not one. It's not in the power of the BoE to do so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-lawmakers-push-back-on-elrichs-proposed-tax-hike-call-for-calm-amid-covid-19-crisis/2020/03/16/ee347c4e-678c-11ea-abef-020f086a3fab_story.html

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2018/03/montgomery-countys-proposed-budget-supports-schools-holds-tax-rates/

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/5-9-billion-montgomery-budget-plan-includes-supplemental-property-tax-for-school-funding/

MoCo's BOE routinely requests budgets that constantly, coooooooooooonstantly demand tax increases to pay more and more and more for 'education'. I'm sick and tired of tax increases, and even when they don't go through, I'm still tired of people in charge constantly demanding increases. They just want an ever bigger honey pot to dip their paws into to fund their pensions and salaries without actually ever having to provide evidence of improved educational outcomes. And they always try to push their tax increase agenda under the guise of improving outcomes for poorer individuals and marginalized groups in order to appeal to the progressive heartstrings that dominate MoCo's politics. In reality, all they do is just enrich themselves with higher salaries and benefits with taxes increases while having little to show for tangible improvements in test scores and other educational outcomes.

SO, who do I vote for who is least likely to request budget increases funded by more taxation?

[Anonymous]

Who is least likely to force busing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of them will raise your taxes. Not one. It's not in the power of the BoE to do so.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-lawmakers-push-back-on-elrichs-proposed-tax-hike-call-for-calm-amid-covid-19-crisis/2020/03/16/ee347c4e-678c-11ea-abef-020f086a3fab_story.html

https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2018/03/montgomery-countys-proposed-budget-supports-schools-holds-tax-rates/

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/5-9-billion-montgomery-budget-plan-includes-supplemental-property-tax-for-school-funding/

MoCo's BOE routinely requests budgets that constantly, coooooooooooonstantly demand tax increases to pay more and more and more for 'education'. I'm sick and tired of tax increases, and even when they don't go through, I'm still tired of people in charge constantly demanding increases. They just want an ever bigger honey pot to dip their paws into to fund their pensions and salaries without actually ever having to provide evidence of improved educational outcomes. And they always try to push their tax increase agenda under the guise of improving outcomes for poorer individuals and marginalized groups in order to appeal to the progressive heartstrings that dominate MoCo's politics. In reality, all they do is just enrich themselves with higher salaries and benefits with taxes increases while having little to show for tangible improvements in test scores and other educational outcomes.

SO, who do I vote for who is least likely to request budget increases funded by more taxation?

Are Sam Brownback or Betsy DeVos on the ballot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is least likely to force busing?

Kids have been riding the bus to school for years and will continue to do so.

[Anonymous]

If you're strongly in favor of boundary adjustment along the lines of economic diversity, who should you vote for?

[Anonymous]

Steve Solomon and Stephen Austin are moderates who want to make our funds achieve more. BOE not responsible for taxes but many BOE members have a socialist ideology. I'd recommend people who want a nonpartisan and efficient BOE who uses our money wisely to vote for Stephen Austin for At large and Steve Solomon for district 4. Apple Ballot tends to support socialist types.

[Anonymous]

Steve Austin is calling for an independent auditor to be out in place. MCPS has a $2.8 Billion budget with no oversight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Steve Solomon and Stephen Austin are moderates who want to make our funds achieve more. BOE not responsible for taxes but many BOE members have a socialist ideology. I'd recommend people who want a nonpartisan and efficient BOE who uses our money wisely to vote for Stephen Austin for At large and Steve Solomon for district 4. Apple Ballot tends to support socialist types.

More than likely, Austin's stance on addressing over crowding by not looking at adjacent clusters will cause tax increases. How else is MCPS going to pay for adding new additions or building new schools because he doesn't over boundaries to be changed in an over crowded cluster? Also, at a time when MCPS can least afford it, he is a part of that lawsuit against MCPS.

Having "investment" experience doesn't mean you understand how budgets work in a school district. Two separate things.

I'm betting he's against tax increases, though. I haven't heard how he plans on addressing over crowded clusters without increasing the budget or not redrawing boundaries with adjacent clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Steve Solomon and Stephen Austin are moderates who want to make our funds achieve more. BOE not responsible for taxes but many BOE members have a socialist ideology. I'd recommend people who want a nonpartisan and efficient BOE who uses our money wisely to vote for Stephen Austin for At large and Steve Solomon for district 4. Apple Ballot tends to support socialist types.

More than likely, Austin's stance on addressing over crowding by not looking at adjacent clusters will cause tax increases. How else is MCPS going to pay for adding new additions or building new schools because he doesn't over boundaries to be changed in an over crowded cluster? Also, at a time when MCPS can least afford it, he is a part of that lawsuit against MCPS.

Having "investment" experience doesn't mean you understand how budgets work in a school district. Two separate things.

I'm betting he's against tax increases, though. I haven't heard how he plans on addressing over crowded clusters without increasing the budget or not redrawing boundaries with adjacent clusters.

I will NOT vote for Austin or anyone who is firmly against changes to school boundaries. In the decades that I have lived in this county, there have been few changes to school boundaries, even though the county has grown tremendously. I'm sorry if you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars more to be in X school boundary, but common sense should have told you that eventually, those boundaries would need to change and things may not always be the same...at least that's how it works in other places. The only people I know who are supporting Austin are those who moved so their child could go to a certain cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Steve Solomon and Stephen Austin are moderates who want to make our funds achieve more. BOE not responsible for taxes but many BOE members have a socialist ideology. I'd recommend people who want a nonpartisan and efficient BOE who uses our money wisely to vote for Stephen Austin for At large and Steve Solomon for district 4. Apple Ballot tends to support socialist types.

Thanks!


Looks like they may get my vote.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone figured out where Austin actually works? I've heard he's in finance but that's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone figured out where Austin actually works? I've heard he's in finance but that's it.

Jeez please stop. Lockheed Martin.

[Anonymous]

For District 4, Reynolds dropped out after ballots were finalized. Evans is the incumbent. I'm voting for her challenger (Solomon).

For at-large, there's no incumbent. Dasgupta is endorsed by the teacher's union. I'm voting Austin.