Gazette: Montgomery County school board election revolves around Weast, demographics and budget

Will strong showing of incumbents in primary carry over?
by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

...If Judith Docca (Dist. 1), O'Neill (Dist. 3), Michael A. Durso (Dist. 5), and Shirley Brandman (At large) are returned, the next superintendent is likely to share Weast's objectives, although recently Durso, who was appointed to the board last year, has challenged Weast publicly on how demographic changes should be discussed and handled...

...Challengers to the incumbents have criticized the school board on a variety of issues, although the overarching concern has dealt with budget handling and fiscal inefficiencies. Docca's opponent, Michael Ibanez, has said the board has an overly cozy relationship with the county teachers union and that classroom teaching methods are outdated. Lisa Lloyd, running against Brandman, has argued in favor of reducing the number of administrators when the next budget is drawn up while preserving teacher pay.

Both Schaerr and Smith, meanwhile, have focused their campaign rhetoric on struggling students and children in special education programs. They have argued that the school system, in its push to achieve higher test scores and greater college matriculation rates, has neglected the different education needs of some students...