The ‘Why’ Behind BOE Endorsements: Esther Wells

We sat down with Esther Wells, who has been extremely active in the community as it relates to the Board of Education, to learn more about what informed her selections this year.

You recently posted on X your selections for BOE, can you tell us how closely you have been following the election this year?  What has been your involvement?

I have followed the Board of Education races closely this year. My slate for MCPS BOE Candidates: D4 Shebra Evans, D2 Brenda Diaz and At-Large Rita Montoya. Diversity of thought and lived experiences personified on my slate of Candidates.

• During the Primary election season:
  Sponsored MCPS FY2025 Operating Budget Palooza: As President of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League (MCTL), I hosted and was the lead Sponsor of an MCPS FY2025 Operating Budget Palooza in February 2024. Invited all Candidates and provided opportunity for them to introduce themselves and their priorities to the Community.
• Created MCPS BOE Candidate Voter Guide: I synthesized a voter guide that showed in a user-friendly manner the policy position of all Candidates as it related to the top concerns facing MCPS.

During the general election season:

• Sponsored MCPS BOE Candidate debate “Funding our Future”: Montgomery County Taxpayers League was the lead Sponsor of one MCPS BOE Candidate debate that we rightly titled “Funding our Future”.
• Attended 5 additional BOE Candidate Forums open to the public. I posted threads from the forums for voters to increase their knowledge about their choices before marking their ballot. Silver Spring United Methodist Church, The League of Women Voters, The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), Mt. Calvary Baptist Church and The Democratic/Republican club Leisure World.

What issues as they relate to MCPS are top priority for you?

• Safety:
  • Physical: secured buildings, threats of mass shooting, weapons on campus, gangs
  • Mental: drug-free, anti-bullying, anti-harassment, anti-bias, anti-hate
• Academics: Proficiency in reading and math for underserved population of students is significantly low as compared to their peers. BOE Business Meeting – 10/22/24

• Operating Budget: ensure that strategy & improved academic proficiency are tied to all funding above Maintenance of Effort, sustainable State level Blueprint for MD’s future funding.

You ended up selecting an incumbent this year.  Why give them another chance?

I am voting to re-elect Shebra Evans for various reasons. Shebra has been successful at expanding full day pre-K seats for our most vulnerable population of students that would otherwise go without formal pre-k education. Thus, disrupting the systemic achievement gap that exists in MCPS for Special education students, low-income family students and Black and Brown students. Shebra is also the President-elect for the MD Association of Board of Education (MABE) and is viewed as a trusted leader to support, champion and advocate for all local public schools in MD. Though Shebra’s opponent has advocated for Bills in Annapolis related to removing Lead in our water and other environmental Bills, I strongly encourage Shebra’s opponent to improve her interpersonal communication skills to seek out views and opinions of Community members that do not look or think like her. It will take everyone uniting together to build consensus and focus on the best interest of the students. In this BOE race, that candidate is the incumbent, Shebra Evans.

Only one of the candidates you selected is endorsed by MCEA?  What are your thoughts on the MCEA selection process and how closely do you think the apple ballot reflects the priorities and interests of a majority of teachers?

• Incomplete selection process: In 2022, MCEA did not interview or meet with all registered Candidates prior to making their endorsement and selections. How can you serve the best interest of your members if your process does not consider all BOE Candidates before making endorsements that reflect the best interests of teachers. Elections for Board of Education members are nonpartisan. MCEA is known to discriminate against non-democratic candidates. Politics before kids.
• Out of touch with teachers: My understanding is that MCEA apple ballot Committee is made up of a small group of delegates that meet with some BOE candidates and make endorsements with little to no involvement from classroom Teachers.
• Retaliatory process: MCEA decided to endorse all new BOE candidates in both the 2022 and 2024 election years. MCPS Board of Education is composed of two At Large members and five members who must reside in the districts that they represent. The terms are staggered, with one At Large and two or three district members being elected every two years. MCEA voted “no confidence” in the interim Superintendent McKnight’s handling of the COVID pandemic re-opening of schools. Since the BOE members voted yes to appoint McKnight as permanent Superintendent despite the vote of no confidence by MCEA, MCEA has retaliated to leverage their power over our schools to seek out new candidates to oust BOE incumbents in both 2022 and 2024 elections. BOE members are to represent the best interest of students and staff and should be free to exercise their best judgement while serving the community without outsized influence of any special interest group.

What made you select Evans over Stewart?

Mrs. Evans’ campaign platform is centered on “engage, educate & excel”.  Evans has been successful to execute on all three areas:

• Engage: Attended ALL BOE Candidate forums, came early & stayed late to meet & greet with the Community, listens to understand all Stakeholders regarding their concerns about MCPS and is receptive to constructive feedback.
• Educate: understands the importance of Pre-K expansion, commitment to providing diverse curriculum made available to the Community before implemented. Has worked to improve geographic diversity of programs to ensure all students have access to high academic rigor regardless of their background.
• Excel: Our students will excel in college, career and Community life as a product of effective engagement of stakeholders and educational access while enrolled in MCPS.

Mrs. Stewart’s campaign platform is centered on ACT “Accountability, Collaboration and Transparency”. As a form of Collaboration, Mrs. Stewart stated “I welcome new ideas and will consider viewpoints that might differ from my own…”, Mrs. Stewart has failed to ACT in the area of Collaboration when she justifies her refusal to participate in Community organized forums because she thinks that a Sponsor or Co-Sponsor of the event’s views are not in line with how we should treat others. As a BOE Candidate, running to represent ALL families in our Community, it’s critically important to engage everyone regardless of political views, opinions & identity.

What made you select Diaz over Zimmerman?

I am voting to elect Mrs. Diaz for various reasons. Mrs. Diaz is a mom of a middle school student. She has over 2 decades of teaching in both public and private schools. Mrs. Diaz understands the parent/school dynamic and importance of parental involvement and parent’s role in guiding the education of their children by having access to Taxpayer funded curriculum. Mrs. Diaz is the only candidate running for BOE that is pro-SROs in MCPS, not for discipline, but because she understands that in times of emergency, for example bomb threats, threats of school shooter, gang activity, drug deals, guns in school, every second counts. Maintaining and restoring safety of our students and staff is a top priority so teachers can focus on teaching and students focus on learning.

In comparison, Mrs. Diaz’s opponent is not a parent and has only a handful of years experience teaching. Her opponent has engaged community members far below that of expectations for a candidate running for public office. With a limited 7 adult member Board, we need seasoned board members like Mrs. Diaz that can serve as an independent voice and represent the needs of educators in policy making and budgeting.

What made you select Montoya over Harris?

I am voting to elect Mrs. Montoya for various reasons. Mrs. Montoya is a mom of two MCPS elementary school students, a voice that is currently lacking on the Board. Elementary school parents’ needs are unique as compared to secondary school needs and she will be able to provide real-time feedback on policies that adversely impact elementary school families. Mrs. Montoya has consistently performed at the highest level at the 6 BOE candidate forums that I’ve attended. Her responses are well informed, well thought out, compelling, reasonable and refreshing. She is an attorney and public defender and will utilize her professional skills to improve oversight of the multi-million dollar vendor contracts between MCPS and 3rd party vendors. Currently, MCPS is renegotiating an electric school bus contract with a vendor that has demonstrated an inability to deliver on the contracted terms and conditions. Mrs. Montoya has recommended to stop renegotiations, collect the fines and penalties from the current contract amounting to $1.5M of taxpayer funds owed back to us and then determine what the best next steps should be. Mrs. Montoya understands the importance of every dollar making its way into classrooms to support our teachers and students. Whereas, Mrs. Montoya’s opponent is on record stating that in spite of the vendor’s “over promise and under deliver” performance of not delivering the EV buses on schedule, the EV buses delivered having mechanical issues, so much so, that MCPS had to purchase additional diesel buses to compensate for the poor performance by the vendor, Taxpayers should be proud to have the largest EV school bus fleet in the nation and plans to enter into another RFP with them.

Mrs. Harris has worked hard during her term on the Board, particularly as the Chair of the fiscal management committee. I am grateful for Mrs. Harris high response rate to community members and willingness to meet and discuss her work on the Board. However, I do believe that Mrs. Montoya has incremental skills, lived experience and professional experience that will be her an asset on the Board to lead MCPS through the next 4 years.

You recently ran for BOE in 2022.  What would you like to see changed as it relates to the campaign and voting process for BOE in MoCo?

• Campaign funding change: Montgomery County is the first County in the United States to have a public campaign finance program for a local election. I recommend an expansion of eligible local races to include Board of Education elections. Montgomery County’s Public Election Fund (PEF) is a public campaign financing program established to encourage greater voter participation in County elections, increase opportunities for more residents to run for office, and reduce the influence of large contributions from businesses, political action groups, and other large organizations.
• Voting process change: I recommend a Montgomery County State delegation Bill to change how BOE races are decided. Re-introduce MC 4-22 Election of members legislation sponsored by Delegate Moon in 2021. The bill would require that, if a BOE candidate is running to represent a specific district, that Candidate’s election must be decided only by voters within that district, rather than the whole county. This is a voting rights equity issue because the majority voting population dominates every school board race. This bill reduces the scope of voters from 1.1M voters in Montgomery County to approximately 200,000 voters in their district. Restore parity as this change would bring BOE races in-line with all other up ballot races such as County Council and State delegation.

Two candidates skipped a forum that you organized through MCTL.  Why?

MCTL was the lead sponsor of MCPS BOE Candidate Debate: Funding our Future that was scheduled for Thursday September 19th, 2024 at 7pm.

Public record: MoCo360 Coverage – Candidates who chose not to attend Mrs. Zimmerman and Stewart didn’t participate in the forum. Zimmerman told MoCo360 in an email that she couldn’t attend because she had a school-related event. On social media, Stewart announced she wasn’t attending the forum because of one sponsor: CleanSlateMoCo. Stewart told MoCo360 that she agreed with diversity of thought and thought anonymity was a “healthy part of democracy,” but that some of the posts and headlines on the website were “extremely troubling.”

Clarification for the record: Mrs. Zimmerman initially replied to the invite to join the debate that “I’m uncertain if I can make it to this event at this time. My school is looking at this week for our Back to School Night event and we have chosen Thursday nights to host events in the past. As always, students come first.” It is well documented that Mrs. Zimmerman is an MCPS 3rd grade classroom teacher at Wheaton Woods Elementary School. Her school’s back to school night was scheduled for Tuesday September 17th, which was not in conflict with the debate date of Thursday September 19th. Mrs. Zimmerman followed up through email that “I’m so sorry, but I’m unable to attend. If the format is remaining the same, I’d be happy to submit my written answers to the questions posed to candidates. Please let me know how and when to do so.” Mrs. Zimmerman was provided with the questions ahead of the debate, at the same time as the Candidates that confirmed their attendance. No written responses were received from Ms. Zimmerman, no further email communications were received. This speaks to Ms. Zimmerman credibility as her actions did not align with her words. It was later brought to my attention that Mrs. Zimmerman’s school PTA sponsored a bowling event the same night of the debate and alleged that Mrs. Zimmerman opted to attend the bowling event vs. BOE debate.

Constructive Feedback for Candidates: As an informed and concerned advocate for MCPS students, I recommend that Ms. Zimmerman improve her engagement with stakeholders and advocates that volunteer their time to inform disengage community members, underrepresented community members if we are to be the change leaders, which is so desperately needed in MCPS. MCPS BOE members are consistently criticized for being non-responsive and ignoring stakeholders. I encourage Ms. Zimmerman to improve her responsiveness, build trust and credibility with all stakeholders should she be elected to the BOE. We cannot afford another 4 years of mistrust and ineffective communication with our elected officials on the Board.

After the election is complete and the new BOE sworn in, how will you measure their success?

• Qualitative Success
  • Culture: Able to build/strengthen relationships with other BOE members. Impossible to be an effective policymaker if you can’t get 4 other BOE members to vote for your priorities
  • Leadership: Adequate oversight/accountability of their one employee, MCPS Superintendent. Set high expectations and goals for the Superintendent and provide a safe and healthy workplace for him to get the job done.
  • Preparedness: did their homework prior to Board business meetings, demonstrated by their ability to vote to approve or decent on agenda items such as promotions, appointments, consent items, etc when appropriate.
  • PTSA Strategic Plan: Ability to set a clear and ambitious strategic plan for MCPS that is Parent-centered, Teacher-equipped, Student-first, Associations/Advocates-supported.