One Vacant Seat, Many Issues

Le, by contrast, opposes the raises and the influence wielded by the teachers association, which he referred to as the "Montgomery County Extortion Association" during a telephone interview. He said labor support has packed the school board with people who "owe their allegiance to anything that benefits the union."

Another sensitive point in the coming election is the relationship between the school board and Weast, who is in his ninth year as superintendent. The school board has long been viewed by some parent leaders as his rubber stamp.

The addition of three strong community activists to the board -- Navarro, Barclay and the since-departed Valerie Ervin, now a member of the County Council -- has changed the dynamic somewhat in recent years, but Weast is still widely viewed as a dominating presence at the board table.

Some parents felt betrayed when board members did not reverse a decision by Weast in late 2006 to phase out a program that housed special-needs students in self-contained Secondary Learning Centers within middle and high schools. Weast agreed, under considerable pressure, to slow the phase-out so that all students in the centers could stay through graduation. But antipathy remains.

Both Muskin and Kauffman said they believe the school board is doing a better job than it was two or three years ago at overseeing the superintendent and his programs.

"It's not that the school board needs to be hostile," Muskin said. "The point is, you can ask questions."

For the most part, the candidates do not suggest radical changes for Maryland's largest school system. They generally propose working harder on initiatives already in place.

Muskin said she would like to see more students participate in accelerated courses and programs and said the school system should redouble its efforts to raise the graduation rate.

Kauffman said he wants to see the middle school initiative successfully implemented, and he favors "meaningful efforts to increase parent involvement," exemplified by the school system's new Parent Academy program.

Asked what changes he might make if elected, Le said he would rewrite the curriculum to stress citizenship, duty and a sense of "good and evil." Kauffman said he would end social promotion, the practice in public education of advancing students through the grades by age rather than academic ability. Muskin said she would expand the hours of departments that interact regularly with parents, so that someone would be on hand "from 6 in the morning to 8 at night," to fit the schedules of working parents.

Both Apple and Seubert said they feel standardized testing has become excessive in the school system. Apple said pressure to score well has driven teachers to teach to the tests. Seubert said he would put a moratorium on testing that is not required by the state or federal government.

Seubert's broader focus is on reducing demands that distract teachers from planning and teaching their lessons, based on his own experience in the classroom. "Every year, it seemed like more and more was put onto the teachers," he said.

Apple said the school board is disconnected from the community, and he cited his experience fighting boundary changes in his neighborhood. "I don't see them being receptive or communicative," he said.