Moderately MOCO Board of Education Candidate Forum Notes By Reader

May 6, 2024 – By June Traicoff

I was inspired by the Yes/No summary of school board candidate responses from the Moderately MOCO forum, as well as the summary table of school board candidates from the Montgomery County Taxpayers League (MCTL).  I will have printouts of both with me on voting day!

I’m sharing a cheat sheet I made for myself after re-watching the Moderately Moco forum. I looked for unique responses from candidates to distinguish between them and see what is special about each.

Personally, I’m looking for glimmers of independent thought and a free spirit to break the rut of conformity we are in. I’ve watched mind-numbing hours of board meetings.  They seem scripted and the unanimous votes to have already been decided behind closed doors. Just one person on the board to force those discussions to the light of day would be game changing.

CandidateDistrictUnique Comments
Diaz2“Dedicated to making sure MCPS is excellent again.”  “Teachers need to be authority figures in classroom, supported by admins.” “Reintroduce academic rigor.” “The status quo cannot continue…Incumbents and MCEA..it is time to question status quo” “Need to introduce grammar, reintroduce whole books…need to get away from dependence on chromebooks” “We can be creative in education in Montgomery County…we have gifted teachers…let’s utilize them”  
Mui2“Want to see a better return on investment” “Our children need to be prepared for 21st century jobs..if not ready when they graduate they are going to find it very difficult to find jobs if we don’t step up.” “Division of labor…teachers busy with academic work (need dedicated people to police halls)” “School board meetings should be at night..(currently) are excluding parents” “Don’t artificially push kids through… lose ability to critically think at each level.”  
Evans (incumbent)4“I am an officer on the state level board” (of education).   “There’s not crimes happening in our schools.” “Access and opportunity” “Deeply committed to equity and excellence…county is doing its work to ensure our information is segregated by race and poverty”  
Mandel4“The Apple ballot is not your friend.” “Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  “We were extremists in Montgomery County. We kept our schools closed longer than almost any other county in the country. We are now facing the consequences of the decisions that were made by the people on the current board.” “Over the course of covid, special needs kids came last” “Last few years…has pit the school system and people in it against parents. That needs to stop.”  
Harris (incumbent)AL“My pronouns are she/her.” “Inclusive, affirming classrooms…that present our students with window and mirrors” “Restorative justice works when implemented well with fidelity.” “We will be fearless in our communication.”  
HidayatAL“The board of education is about contracts, cronyism, corruption.” “Board is dysfunctional.”  “I’m in the twilight zone listening to the incumbents.” “Their (incumbents) solution after being accused of cronyism and corruption is take me out to coffee and I’m not going to respond to your emails.” “I am a former cop…will find where the problems are and there will be accountability.”  (He was a former SRO and threw his paddle into the air for an emphatic “yes” to support reinstating the SRO program).  
KimAL“School system needs complete redesign.” “Higher expectation of what is possible.” “As kids spend more time in school, they are more dulled.” “If a school system really valued parents..parents as first and most important partners, that belief would change a system of decision making”  
MoforAL“Montgomery County residents, you are owed an apology.”  “Restorative justice is an injustice to victims.”  “Prioritize student, teacher, and admin support.” “I believe parents know better than activists, politicians, and political insiders.” “Wage parity for paraeducators”  
MontoyaAL“Kids need consequences. Restorative justice is not enough.” “Town halls are performative.” “Can’t know what’s going on (in her child’s school) when there is gatekeeping of information” “MCPS is afraid to show information people won’t like…difference with incumbent is I haven’t been on the board for the past 3.5 years where I had an opportunity to make a difference and change that.”

Full Details From Links Above

We hosted the first ever in person Moderately MOCO event – a BOE candidate forum which you can watch here.

Below is a graphic showing the answers to our Yes/No rapid fire questions during the forum.

Montgomery County Taxpayers League

The Montgomery County Taxpayers League created some handy charts on all candidates positions generated from the Montgomery Perspective Questionnaires (next section) which you can see here grouped by race or everyone.

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