Special Edition Election 2014 MCEA Guide to the Elections New Leaders for Today’s Montgomery County In the upcoming June primary election, voters go to the polls MCEA conducts a thorough and comprehensive screening to begin electing members of the Board of Education, the process before making recommendations. Our goal is entire County Council, the County Executive, the entire state simple: to identify both newcomers and incumbents who will legislature, and the Governor and other statewide officials. be strong advocates for public education. We are pleased this year to be recommending a number of new candidates— and incumbents running for higher office—who represent the next generation of county leaders. Board of Education County Council State Senate At-Large District 3 District 16 SHEBRA EVANS RYAN SPIEGEL SUSAN LEE STATE HOUSE OF DELEGATES District 20 District 20 District 17 District 16 District 15 DAVID MOON WILL SMITH ANDREW PLATT HRANT JAMGOCHIAN BENNETT RUSHKOFF HOW MCEA’S CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATION PROCESS WORKS MCEA conducts a thorough and with candidates. The Committee reviews www.mceanea.org comprehensive screening process before the voting record of incumbents. They put The Advocate is published by the making its candidate recommendations. in untold hours reviewing questionnaires, Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) conducting interviews, and deciding upon 12 Taft Court, Rockville, MD 20850 The process begins with public Phone 301-294-6232. advertisements of our screening process recommendations. MCEA is solely responsible for the Advocate’s content. to notify potential candidates. This year It takes a 58% vote of the Committee to MCEA is an affiliate of the Maryland State Education ads were placed in the Gazette and the recommend a candidate to the MCEA Association (MSEA ) & the National Education Association (NEA). announcement was publicized through Board of Directors. The Board reviews President social media. All incumbents, all candidates the Committee's work, and then makes Doug Prouty who had filed for office and all candidates recommendations to the Representative 1st Vice President who request to be considered are sent Assembly. Chris Lloyd detailed questionnaires about their views on More than 120 building reps from schools Secretary public education, their experience and their throughout the county regularly participate Amy Watkins priorities. All the candidate responses to in the Rep Assembly. The RA discusses and Treasurer our questionnaire are posted publicly on the debates the candidate recommendations. Betsy Johnson MCEA website (see below). As with the PALS Committee and the Board of Directors More than a dozen member volunteers serve Board of Directors, it takes a 58% vote of Elementary School Directors on MCEA's Political Action and Legislative the Representative Assembly to affirm a Michelle Cohen, Georgene Fountain, Support Committee (PALS) and lead the candidate recommendation. Susan Loftus, Lauren Moskowitz review and recommendation process. Teams The Rep Assembly has the final say over Middle School Directors of teachers conduct structured interviews which candidates receive MCEA's support. John Barrett, Diana Rodriguez High School Directors Stephanie Halloran, Patrick McCann At-large, Retired & Non-school based Directors David Nicholson, Yvonne Hudson, Brian Donlon, Jennifer Martin, Keena Howell Staff Tom Israel, Executive Director Diana White-Pettis, Director of Operations Barbara Hueter, Political Director School Assistance Team Elainie Crawford, UniServ Director Wonder what the candidates say Joia Jones, UniServ Director about education? LaToya Ouhirra, UniServ Director Read the Paul Pinsky, UniServ Director Ellen Holmes, UniServ Director candidates’ responses Individual Assistance Team to our questionnaires Jerome Fountain, UniServ Director Andrew Macluskie, UniServ Director http://mceanea.org/political-action/ Mary Neal, Sick Leave Bank Coordinator elections-2014 Jon Gerson, UniServ Director Jackie Thompson, Membership Coordinator Administrative Staff Sonya Dove-Addison, Receptionist Paulette Jackson, Conference Center Coord. Deborah Mackall, Administrative Assistant Kiwana Hall, Administrative Assistant © 2014 MCEA Montgomery County Education Association 2014 Election Recommendations Montgomery County Board of Education Only one Board of Education race is on the ballot in the primary. The two top vote getters will go on to the general election in November. The Board of Education is a non-partisan race, and all voters (Democratic, Republican and Independent) can vote for Board of Education candidates in the primary: Board of Education At-Large Shebra Evans Shebra Evans is a professional financial analyst who would bring valuable skills to the Board’s work on the MCPS budget. She has already served on the Superintendent’s Budget Advisory Committee. A former Vice-President of MCCPTA, Shebra also served as the Wheaton Cluster Coordinator and PTA President at Harmony Hills ES. As a facilitator of the MCPS African American Student Achievement Group, Shebra has been engaged in working to close the achievement gap. Shebra is also recommended by SEIU Local 500, CASA in Action, the Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats, the African-American Democratic Club and by outgoing Board member Shirley Brandman and several other incumbent Board members. www.shebraevans.com For the November General Election, MCEA also recommends re-election of the following incumbent members of the Board. REMINDER: All voters countywide can vote in each race, even though the candidates have to live in specific districts. Board of Education District 1 Judy Docca Judy Docca is a retired principal, completing her second term on the Board of Education. She began her career as a foreign language teacher, later led the MCPS Department of Human Relations, and ultimately served as principal of Argyle Middle School. She was a volunteer with the MC Alliance of Black School Educators, the Hispanic and Asian-American Employee Associations, and served as Education Chairperson and Vice President of the NAACP. She is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery, and serves as chair of the Black and Hispanic Caucus of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education. Board of Education District 3 Patricia O’Neill Pat O’Neill is completing her fourth term as a school board member. She is the current Vice- President of the Board and has served numerous times as President. During the recent recession Pat showed particularly strong leadership in working to minimize cuts to the school system’s budget and avoid furloughs. She has a long history of service as a PTA leader in the Walt Whitman cluster, and graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. She is currently chair of the Board’s Policy Management Committee and is an active member of the American Association of University Women. www.patoneill.org Board of Education District 5 Michael Durso Michael Durso is completing his first full term on the Board. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at McDaniel College, following a 40 year career in public education. Mike served as principal of Springbrook High School for 13 years. He understands the work that goes on in schools and classrooms, and brings that important perspective to the Board’s discussions. Mike currently serves as Chair of the Board’s Fiscal Management Committee. 1 Montgomery County Education Association 2014 Election Recommendations Montgomery County Education Association 2014 Election Recommendations County Government County Government & Maryland General Assembly County Executive Ike Leggett Ike Leggett has served for eight years as county executive, shepherding the county through very difficult economic times. Previously Ike served for 16 years on the County Council, and was elected Council President three times by his colleagues. Throughout his career – and especially during the recent severe recession – Ike has made it a priority to protect the schools and other county services that support our children. Ike has also served as Chair of the Montgomery County Human Relations Commission, as a law school professor at Howard University, and as a Captain in the U.S. Army. www.ikeleggett.org County Council District 5 No Recommendation County Council District 3 Ryan Spiegel Ryan Spiegel is a member of the Gaithersburg City Council and has been active on the Council’s Education Committee. In Gaithersburg, he has helped expand afterschool programs and youth centers. Ryan first ran for office in Gaithersburg to help ensure that his city remained a welcoming and tolerant community for an increasingly diverse and international population. He has been a model for the kind of inclusive leadership our entire county needs, as we move forward to build on the strengths that our diversity offers. www.ryanspiegel.com County Council District 4 Nancy Navarro Nancy Navarro has been a member of the Council since winning a special election in 2009. With MCEA’s support, she served on the Board of Education from 2004 to 2009, where she was twice elected as President by her colleagues. She was a co-founder of Centro Familia, a nonprofit community-based organization in Silver Spring whose mission is to assist the economic and educational development of Latino and other immigrant communities. Nancy has also served as co-president of the White Oak Middle School PTSA and co-chair of the Long Branch Revitalization Task Force. She was an active bilingual classroom parent volunteer at Rock Creek Forest Elementary School. www.nancynavarro.org