Campaign Twitter
https://twitter.com/BrendaMDiaz4BOE
Campaign Phone
2403983291
I bring a wealth of knowledge & insight necessary to rebuild the foundation of academic excellence in MCPS. With over twenty years of teaching experience across various educational settings, from public to private school, the preK classroom to high school, Spanish to Social Studies, substitute to Curriculum Coordinator, and from ESOL to AP, my understanding of different populations positions me to collaborate effectively with students, parents, & teachers.
As a board member, I will respect the inherent right of parents to guide their children's moral compass and cultural beliefs, including supporting them in shaping curriculum and policy input. Parents are the bedrock of society and the cornerstone of our MCPS community, shaping the future through their dedication to their children's development. With parental support, we will meet our main goal as a public school system to provide rigorous academic instruction.
Collaboration between parents, teachers, school counselors, psychologists, social workers, pupil personnel workers, and the school nurse is essential to caring for our children's mental health. Programs such as Linkages to Learning, Identity, and NAMI also play an important role in helping our families in times of crisis. I will support these efforts while also encouraging the County Council to create more opportunities in these areas for our children.
I will conduct a comprehensive review of resource allocation across schools to identify disparities and implement strategies to provide resources based on student needs. I will return highly qualified Central Office staff to the classroom as teachers, subs, or test administrators in schools that report gaps in faculty. I will reinstate access to grade-appropriate assignments, reinforce strong instruction, with teachers who hold our students to high expectations, every day, in every class.
The key to teacher retention, recruitment, & solving the teacher shortage crisis is to first take care of our current teachers. I will boost morale amongst our teachers by providing the tools they need to be successful in the classroom. From functioning copiers to bringing back GoGuardian– our teachers deserve to have fully equipped schools. I will hold open forums & visit classrooms to hear directly from them. I will support teachers & administrators who enforce the student code of conduct.
Campaign Twitter
@Vote4RickyFMui
Campaign Phone
202-930-0782
I am employed with Accenture Federal Services, where I use a combination of Lean Six Sigma techniques to reduce waste and streamline policies, programs, and processes for Federal Agencies. While consulting for the U.S. Dept of Education, I developed course materials and trained thousands of Cust Serv Reps. I will utilize my MBA acumen to decipher MCPS finances and develop transparent metrics. I will leverage my leadership skills from more than a decade as a Naval Officer and Veteran. I'm Ready!
Let's take a closer look at why some Parents are seeking to Opt their children out of classroom instruction. The Opt out action is only the symptom, the root cause is that parents see certain aspects, topics, or perspective that does not align with family values, moreover, would instigate conflicts with family values should it be applied, spoken, used, or perpetuated by their children, with respect to cultural sensitivities, religious beliefs, customs, community values and moral standards.
The rise in mental health awareness is tremendously beneficial to any community. In the past, individuals with deviations to the shared mental state would be outcast or avoided; we see this throughout history and documented in Biblical texts and historic accounts. We are all humans. Some of us experience issues that arise out of our control and we need assistance to maintain our dignity. What factors affect mental health issues? Environment, hereditary, drugs, or life choices. Normalize help.
We currently have CTE Districts designed to shift students around the county, to mitigate over-population at the higher demand school clusters. I would like to propose coalescing to regional Career and Technical Education clusters, where most, if not all, career tracks are offered within the geographical area. This would reduce barriers, such as excessive travel away from home, to attend a specific desired track. CTEs are critical for students that want to thrive in Montgomery County.
Teachers will gravitate to where they see their value and effort appreciated. Teachers are answering a calling; where parents entrust the minds and future of their children to a set of proxy guardians. It takes a village to raise children, always has. Children are our future. Teachers need an environment where they are supported by the administration, live in a safe community, minimized travel, and are financially solvent. We gladly pay Day Cares exorbitant fees, but not our public schools?
Campaign Twitter
@RebeccaonBoard
Campaign Phone
3013256246
I represent D2 with an independent, forward-thinking voice. My commitment to MCPS and years of experience enduring failures and successes, provides me insight to help others better understand and handle challenging situations. I have compassion for students and staff, and I see what happens when leaders make decisions that are not in the best interest of the system. I have corrected injustices whenever possible and will continue to do so to best serve our students, staff and families.
Parents are key partners with MCPS. Our advisory groups include parents and staff who work to identify high quality materials and can review and object to content. The state allows parents to opt-out of specific content, MCPS follows their policy. Students in MCPS learn to think critically and must wrestle with the differing ideas of others. It is our responsibility to provide the education for everyone to be accepting and respectful of each other.
I advocate for expanding programs and policies to support student’s mental health so they can succeed academically and emotionally. I led the creation of the recovery and academic program, supporting students with substance abuse and mental health issues. I fight to fund additional counselors and all mental health supports including mindfulness, bullying prevention, community circles, positive behavioral interventions, and telehealth options accessible during school hours.
This is not a one size fits all concept. We need to evaluate every school, class, and student to secure the individualized supports needed to create an educational environment where every student has equitable access to resources, rigorous instruction, and highly qualified staff. I’ve promoted career pathways for students and staff, expanded the grow your own and dual enrollment programs and supported the expansion of AP courses, eliminating fees that often caused a barrier for our students.
It is imperative that we recruit and retain the most qualified people. Competitive compensation is essential to attract high quality professionals. I advocate for more planning time for teachers and increased professional development opportunities. Investing in our staff’s growth through continuing education and professional development not only enriches lives, but also enhances the educational experience for students through fresh perspectives and new methods in the classroom.
Campaign Twitter
@AbyThioye
Campaign Phone
703-479-8117
As a clinical research coordinator, I work closely with medical directors and am responsible for submitting monthly reports to my supervisors. I work cohesively in close coordination with my team of research nurses. I see projects through from start to finish on a regular basis. I will bring this management and leadership experience to the school board. As an immigrant woman of color fluent in multiple languages and a mom of five MCPS students, I bring a fresh perspective to the school board.
As an immigrant mom from a traditional society and an educated professional, I know the American dream for many of us means raising children who are academically successful citizens and carry on their family’s values and traditions. It is the job of public schools to prepare our children for academic success. But it is the right of parents to direct their children's upbringing. I support the right of parents to opt their children out of instruction that violates their religion or conscience.
We must address root causes of the mental health crisis. Research suggests that a key driver of this crisis is social media. I support banning phones with internet access during school hours and counseling that specifically addresses the harm of social media. Kids are also suffering from the impact of Covid-era lock downs and we need to focus on what schools can do to help them recover.
MCPS has a long way to go in meeting its responsibilities to our children. In particular, it has failed minority students. Lowering the bar, grade inflation, and social promotion do not address the root causes of poor academic performance and only set students up for failure. I support expanded gifted programs, magnet schools, tutoring and mentoring from the earliest grades to help students reach their potential.
I support an across-the-board 10% pay increase for teachers, to be paid for by cutting the fat from the MCPS budget and ending wasteful spending due to years of gross mismanagement. On top of this I advocate for merit pay for our outstanding teachers. And I advocate for immediate adoption of the Inspector General's January 2024 recommendations for teacher complaint processing, at the bare minimum, to build trust and accountability between teachers and administrators.
Campaign Twitter
@ZimmermanforBOE
Campaign Phone
(202)734-6904
Campaign Instagram
NZimmermanforBOE
My service as a public school teacher prepares me best. I know the system from one of its most crucial points of success, which makes me qualified to speak from it.
One of my undergraduate degrees is in political science. I am educated in this field and I can utilize my training as a member of the Board.
I am prepared for this office not only because I am experienced as a teacher, but because I come with the experiences of a teacher. I know how to work hard because I work like a teacher.
MCPS should not allow opt-outs of these materials. Should a family wish to provide additional education to their child, they are welcome to do so at home or with their religious organization. As students mature, they will interact with people who may be different from themselves. MCPS's goal with these materials is to provide mirrors (to reflect back on students who see themselves) and windows (for students who do not see themselves to peer into someone else's experience and learn empathy).
Students who are in crisis are not able to learn, so MCPS must act. As a starting point, MCPS needs allocate more behavioral support personnel in each building. The nationally recommended ratios for school counselors (1:250), psychologists (1:500), and social workers (1:250) are not being met by MCPS.
MCPS should also consider excusing students for 4 mental health days per year (approx. 1 per quarter) and enhancing the health curriculum from K-12 to include a greater mental health focus.
I would like to propose more implicit bias training for educators across MCPS as a starting point. We know that Black and Brown students are recommended for challenging courses at a lower rate than their White and Asian peers not because of scores, but due to implicit bias from educators.
I also propose deeper examination of where resources are spent order to ensure that our most vulnerable students get what they need to thrive, along with more mentorship programs for students and staff.
Educators first deserve a living wage. The county council must fully fund the budget and then the Board must uphold the contract to pay teachers their salaries.
Educators must also have a tenable workload. We must reduce the expectations placed on all workers in MCPS so we can retain educators in the system.
MCPS already fosters mentorship through the Consulting Teacher program, but this should be expanded and extended to foster a supportive environment for MCPS educators.
