Other Pr. George's Races Settled, School Board Now Focus

At Forum, Candidates in First Election Since 2000 Urge More Parental Involvement

Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah is weighing reentry into the race. (Courtesy Of Gloria Lawlah)

Come Election Day, there is little question that Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) will win a second term: He is running unopposed. The County Council almost certainly will retain a Democratic majority. The county's tiny Republican Party has not fielded candidates for seven of the nine seats.

There is only one county race Nov. 7 where the outcome is up for grabs: the Board of Education.

"This is the only thing going," said Fred Price Jr., one of 28 school board candidates knocked out in the primary election. He spoke after watching 16 of 18 candidates present their views at a forum Wednesday night at the Largo-Kettering Library.

"You have the governor, the U.S. Senate, the school board," he said. "Everything else is settled."

This fall, residents will have their first opportunity in six years to elect a board. The election represents a chance to set a new course for a school system that has had five chief executives in the past decade and whose fractious elected board was replaced by an appointed one in 2002.

The questions from the audience reflected an awareness of the daunting problems that will face the five district and four at-large members -- the schools suffer from low test scores, an achievement gap between black and white students, and violence.

The questions flowed in: How would the candidates improve achievement in a county where half of high school students' test scores are not good enough to earn a diploma? How would they keep top students from fleeing to private schools? How would they stop violence and keep the best teachers? What kind of reception would they give new schools chief John E. Deasy?

One of the most telling problems, the candidates said, is parental indifference. The candidates at the Largo forum nearly outnumbered the parents in the audience.

That was not lost on Linda T. Thomas of Temple Hills, a candidate for the District 4 seat. When she received a question scribbled on an index card -- "What is your plan for getting parents and the community to recommit to our children?" -- she had a quick answer.

"Look here," she said, gesturing to about 40 people in front of her. Many of them were either candidates or associated with one. "We have how many people in our district? And only a handful here."

The forum was symbolic of the paradox facing the 134,000-student school system. Candidates have flooded into the school board race, but the contest has yet to prompt deep interest among the county's 375,000 voters. In the primary, more than 31,000 people voted for retiring state Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah (D), who had withdrawn from the race. Lawlah left the contest soon after the teachers union declined to endorse her, but she still has strong name recognition in the county, which she has served for nearly 20 years in the General Assembly.

Lawlah received enough votes to qualify for the general election but said she has not decided her next step. She has not attended two candidate forums since the primary. When contacted by phone, she said she would decide this week whether to reenter the race.