Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yall have no idea what you are talking about. At least do the very basic of googling before saying things that are factually true.

BOE positions are non partisan meaning it is one of the few races where anyone can vote in—democrats, independents, and republicans—during the closed primaries.

In other words MAGA folks don’t have to change parties just for the primaries is they wanted to vote Diaz.

Sorry it bugs me when ppl literally do not know the very basics.

As speaking as a lifelong Democrat, Diaz advancing does not surprise me. Ppl are fed up with MCPS and the hard left we’ve taken. Diaz is an overcorrection.

We haven't taken a hard left. Taylor is a total DOGE bro. Have you not noticed all chaos he has introduced into the system? Did you not just see the budget cuts that Taylor made - disproportionately affecting black and brown children? No, Taylor is definitely on the right wing side of things.

Anonymous wrote:Yall have no idea what you are talking about. At least do the very basic of googling before saying things that are factually true.

BOE positions are non partisan meaning it is one of the few races where anyone can vote in—democrats, independents, and republicans—during the closed primaries.

In other words MAGA folks don’t have to change parties just for the primaries is they wanted to vote Diaz.

Sorry it bugs me when ppl literally do not know the very basics.

As speaking as a lifelong Democrat, Diaz advancing does not surprise me. Ppl are fed up with MCPS and the hard left we’ve taken. Diaz is an overcorrection.

Anonymous wrote:I voted for her. /shrug. I don't agree with what she said about covid, mask mandates, or any of that. But she's the only candidate that I can see talking substantively about academic standards declining. I voted for her, because I wanted to make a statement to the board / political engine -- people do care about this, this 'fringe' candidate just got 30% of the vote, MCPS keeps sleepwalking (or strong-arming) into failed policies and it's getting more than frustrating to watch. I'm hoping that this will make establishment start to notice a rising frustrating among the electorate on this issue. I love public schools, I want to fund them, I want the best for our children, and yet I see MCPS getting more and more money every year, there's less and less attention on where it goes, failed contracts, ignoring parental feedback on policies -- and screaming crying throwing up shaking about ... getting nearly $150m more than you did last year? The fearmongering around the budget was insane this cycle.

I'll vote for her again in November. I don't care for Lazo, he's too buddy-buddy with the existing county/state politics for me to think he'd hold anyone accountable. If she wins, great. She's one voice on a board of how many people? I'm not concerned that she'll somehow roll back vaccine mandates or create mass book burnings. She's one person, and it's good for the BoE to have a different voice, for once.

If it were for a position where she was a president-of-one, I wouldn't have voted for her, because she may be able to enact more of her fringe policies. But as one member of a board? I hope she wins. I want to send a message that parents are getting fed up, and want something different.

I won't argue my point on dcum, this is my personal opinion, and I don't like engaging in online comment wars. But I'll say - it's very easy to dismiss people and claim that everyone who votes for her is insane, wrong, a right-wing nut job, whatever. She got 2nd place in a 4-1 Dem area. This isn't a red county or a purple county, and yet she still got 2nd. Hopefully this helps some people realize that she's actually, somehow, *connecting* with voters on legitimate issues.

Or you can just yell that she's insane and shouldn't be listened to. That's fine. You will still have people who quietly just ... vote for her anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.

You want to opt out of books that say slavery is wrong because you think slavery was okay? Fantastic. Hope my kids aren’t friends with your kids because I don’t want them having to call you master or fear you’re going to make them work your fields.

Please learn to recognize sarcasm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for her. /shrug. I don't agree with what she said about covid, mask mandates, or any of that. But she's the only candidate that I can see talking substantively about academic standards declining. I voted for her, because I wanted to make a statement to the board / political engine -- people do care about this, this 'fringe' candidate just got 30% of the vote, MCPS keeps sleepwalking (or strong-arming) into failed policies and it's getting more than frustrating to watch. I'm hoping that this will make establishment start to notice a rising frustrating among the electorate on this issue. I love public schools, I want to fund them, I want the best for our children, and yet I see MCPS getting more and more money every year, there's less and less attention on where it goes, failed contracts, ignoring parental feedback on policies -- and screaming crying throwing up shaking about ... getting nearly $150m more than you did last year? The fearmongering around the budget was insane this cycle.

I'll vote for her again in November. I don't care for Lazo, he's too buddy-buddy with the existing county/state politics for me to think he'd hold anyone accountable. If she wins, great. She's one voice on a board of how many people? I'm not concerned that she'll somehow roll back vaccine mandates or create mass book burnings. She's one person, and it's good for the BoE to have a different voice, for once.

If it were for a position where she was a president-of-one, I wouldn't have voted for her, because she may be able to enact more of her fringe policies. But as one member of a board? I hope she wins. I want to send a message that parents are getting fed up, and want something different.

I won't argue my point on dcum, this is my personal opinion, and I don't like engaging in online comment wars. But I'll say - it's very easy to dismiss people and claim that everyone who votes for her is insane, wrong, a right-wing nut job, whatever. She got 2nd place in a 4-1 Dem area. This isn't a red county or a purple county, and yet she still got 2nd. Hopefully this helps some people realize that she's actually, somehow, *connecting* with voters on legitimate issues.

Or you can just yell that she's insane and shouldn't be listened to. That's fine. You will still have people who quietly just ... vote for her anyway.

+1

This pretty much mirrors my thinking.

Unfortunately, I think that general election voters are less inclined to do candidate research. I think that most voters idea of researching BOE candidates is to vote the Apple Ballot, assuming that those candidates are the ones that teachers think are best for education, which is a flawed conclusion. What voters don’t understand is that the Apple Ballot actually identifies the candidates that the union thinks will be best for the union, largely regardless of impact (or lack thereof) on education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.

You want to opt out of books that say slavery is wrong because you think slavery was okay? Fantastic. Hope my kids aren’t friends with your kids because I don’t want them having to call you master or fear you’re going to make them work your fields.

BS Diaz has said plenty worse.

1. Her social media says otherwise. She thinks LGBTQ people should be in institutions. Yep, her X account. So much propaganda on that account it is horribly disturbing.
2. Her social media banning books was her thing way before OPT OUT> It's BS to think that was her only book banning agenda. And she got paid by America Legal First for her position in the OPT OUT. Yep she got paid by a RW group!
3. Diaz didn't show up for work before her time at Gaithesburg, HS parents petitioned to have her removed from the classroom.
4. She's 100% anti vax not just covid her support of the idiot RFK JR proves that. Who voted for that shit?

I have an idea how she got the votes she got because MAGA changed affiliation for the primaries. She will lose in the general.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

Are you not worried about what happens when Diaz advocates for all these reasonable things (assuming she bothers to show up for work) and then makes crazy comments about leftists and how something or other is "the new Jim Crow"? She would be a gift to anyone opposing reform because she will make reform seem crazy.

Will Omar Lazo be a voice for better safety, discipline, and academic standards? So far, I did not get impression he gives much priority to these issues. Chase was even worse and is deservingly out.

Omar is a bit shapeless. He hasn't really staked out strong points of view of anything. He says a lot of general platitudes but he hasn't distinguished himself on any of the areas of concern that you raised.

And yet, he has handedly won because he got the Apple ballot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.

You want to opt out of books that say slavery is wrong because you think slavery was okay? Fantastic. Hope my kids aren’t friends with your kids because I don’t want them having to call you master or fear you’re going to make them work your fields.

Anonymous wrote:I voted for her. /shrug. I don't agree with what she said about covid, mask mandates, or any of that. But she's the only candidate that I can see talking substantively about academic standards declining. I voted for her, because I wanted to make a statement to the board / political engine -- people do care about this, this 'fringe' candidate just got 30% of the vote, MCPS keeps sleepwalking (or strong-arming) into failed policies and it's getting more than frustrating to watch. I'm hoping that this will make establishment start to notice a rising frustrating among the electorate on this issue. I love public schools, I want to fund them, I want the best for our children, and yet I see MCPS getting more and more money every year, there's less and less attention on where it goes, failed contracts, ignoring parental feedback on policies -- and screaming crying throwing up shaking about ... getting nearly $150m more than you did last year? The fearmongering around the budget was insane this cycle.

I'll vote for her again in November. I don't care for Lazo, he's too buddy-buddy with the existing county/state politics for me to think he'd hold anyone accountable. If she wins, great. She's one voice on a board of how many people? I'm not concerned that she'll somehow roll back vaccine mandates or create mass book burnings. She's one person, and it's good for the BoE to have a different voice, for once.

If it were for a position where she was a president-of-one, I wouldn't have voted for her, because she may be able to enact more of her fringe policies. But as one member of a board? I hope she wins. I want to send a message that parents are getting fed up, and want something different.

I won't argue my point on dcum, this is my personal opinion, and I don't like engaging in online comment wars. But I'll say - it's very easy to dismiss people and claim that everyone who votes for her is insane, wrong, a right-wing nut job, whatever. She got 2nd place in a 4-1 Dem area. This isn't a red county or a purple county, and yet she still got 2nd. Hopefully this helps some people realize that she's actually, somehow, *connecting* with voters on legitimate issues.

Or you can just yell that she's insane and shouldn't be listened to. That's fine. You will still have people who quietly just ... vote for her anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.

You want to opt out of books that say slavery is wrong because you think slavery was okay? Fantastic. Hope my kids aren’t friends with your kids because I don’t want them having to call you master or fear you’re going to make them work your fields.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.

You want to opt out of books that say slavery is wrong because you think slavery was okay? Fantastic. Hope my kids aren’t friends with your kids because I don’t want them having to call you master or fear you’re going to make them work your fields.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I voted for Lazo, reading her response about textbooks, reducing tech, etc. I might vote for Diaz in November. As someone said upthread, "education matters more than how someone feels about pride flags."

Flags are symbolic for real issues. Suicide among non-straight youth is high, because we live in an intolerant world, as evidenced by Diaz and her beliefs.

I'm not worried that one school board member is going to turn 2026 Montgomery County MD into 1990's Kentucky on LGBTQ issues. I worry more about safety, discipline, and academic standards in this particular time and place.

+1. I'm the one who made the comment about pride flags, and I agree. The safety of LGBT children and families is important to me (I am part of a queer family), but Brenda Diaz doesn't threaten that.

Here's what she's said about LGBT issues:

- She said parents should be able to opt out of LGBT books in the curriculum. This would have been the right choice in an environment where the Supreme Court was always going to rule the way it did. Instead we wasted money and energy on that fight only to wind up being forced to add the opt out anyway.
-She said we needed to make sure students from families who don't share those values have a place in the school system. Maybe you're somewhere you have the luxury of not believing that, but I'm not. Our school has a lot of immigrant families from more conservative backgrounds. As a queer family, we have to navigate that, and the school board aggressively pushing makes that harder, not easier.

Well I'd like to opt-out of any books that say slavery was wrong. We need to make sure students from families who don't share those values (that slavery is wrong) have a place in the school system.