For Montgomery County Schools

The next Board of Education will confront significant challenges in the high-achieving district.

MONTGOMERY County is justifiably proud of its school system, one of the nation's finest. So it is to School Superintendent Jerry D. Weast's credit that when he looks ahead, he sees the challenges still unmet. Those include reshaping middle schools, furthering improvements in minority student performance and helping high school students meet new requirements for graduation.

A key factor in Mr. Weast's ability to tackle these issues is who sits on the Board of Education, and this year portends major change. Two incumbents, Charles Haughey (At Large) and Gabe Romero (District 1-Gaithersburg), are not seeking reelection. In addition, if incumbent Valerie Ervin is elected to the County Council, her Silver Spring seat will be filled by someone appointed by the school board.

Two contested races appear on Tuesday's ballot. Five candidates are running for the open at-large seat, and in District 5 (Northeastern County) incumbent Nancy Navarro faces a challenge from two strong candidates. The top two vote-getters for the at-large and District 5 seats advance to the general election. There is no primary in District 1, with those two candidates automatically appearing on the November ballot.

Shirley Brandman is the clear choice for the at-large seat. Ms. Brandman has more than 25 years of experience in education as a teacher, a lawyer (representing disadvantaged and disenfranchised youth) and a PTA volunteer. Her expertise in special education would be an important addition to the board, and her long involvement in the schools has equipped her with common-sense insights into education policy.

In District 5, the decision is not as easy. Ms. Navarro, co-founder of a nonprofit organization that helps Latino and immigrant communities, was appointed to the board in 2004 and has shown an important commitment to minority issues and increased parental involvement. However, we have been disappointed with some of her decisions, as well as by an unnecessary style of confrontational politics. She initially voted against this year's operating budget, opposed the acceleration of all-day kindergarten into county schools and supported the illegal plan to import prescription drugs from Canada. Mostly, though, we are disturbed by what we see as her tepid support of Mr. Weast, whose contract comes up for renewal next year.

Opposing Ms. Navarro are Susie Werner Scofield and Philip Kauffman . Both are lawyers and well-known school activists with deep knowledge of both the potential and problems of county schools.