This page provides a list of the eight candidates currently running for the Howard County Board of Education along with links to news articles and my comments about their candidacy. Why? Like Prudential Insurance, I want to provide you with all your options so you can make an informed decision. DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed below are my own. I do not claim to speak for any other candidates, but I want to support the election of board members who I feel are best able to solve some of our problems and make our schools even better.

 

Who should you vote for? Obviously, that is a personal decision, but you can find my recommendations below or you can view my new "Candidate Guide" with pros and cons for every candidate. I want voters to know what I think the other candidates are not telling you and who, in my opinion, may not be the best board members.

 

Choice 1. If you think the status quo is just fine and don't want anybody to mess with "what works," then vote for any incumbent. Their votes are normally unanimous, so you are unlikely to find any difference among them. See my blog entry "Lack of Authority or Lack of Will?" or "Ms. French Says She is Not Qualified" to read more about the current board's unwillingness to "intervene" in school management or my blog entry "Contested Board Votes and What They Say About Board Independence" to see evidence that most board members always vote in support of the school system position.

 

Choice 2. If you think that the current board just doesn't listen to you and tends to rubber stamp the decisions of the school system, but don't know what to do about it, vote for some of the challengers and at least get the incumbents out of office. But be careful--some new candidates may be no better than the incumbents. They may sound good but be unwilling to think and act independently of the school system.

 

Choice 3. If you think that the current board just doesn't listen to you and rubber stamps the decisions of the school system, but you want to make sure that you get a new board that communicates with you and plans to challenge the system to do better, then vote for Brian Meshkin, Cindy Vaillancourt and Leslie Kornreich. You can find us online on the HowardPublicEd Yahoo Group, where we are willing to discuss issues publicly and push hard to make the system work better for you. We are all parents of school-age kids currently in the public system, so we have a vested interest in making our schools better now!

 

Candidate Name	Details
David Thalheimer (Facebook Page) david@betterboardofed.org	Eliminated in the Primary Election! You are on my web site, so you have probably already read my positions. I'm in the race because I believe that we desperately need a Board of Education that listens to parents and teachers, thinks about issues independently of the recommendations of the school system, and is proactive in finding and addressing shortfalls in our system of education. I don't believe this is happening now. However, it takes four votes to implement changes, so I'm hoping you will vote for me and the other candidates who I think will help to implement needed improvements.
Brian Meshkin (Web Site) (Facebook Page) brian@brianmeshkin.com	New Candidate. This candidate is an entrepreneur with a strong record of participation in the community and the school system. He is an excellent candidate who I will be supporting this year. He believes that the current board has been unresponsive to the input of citizen groups and he is willing to address real issues to improve the quality of our school system. He has proposed a package of reforms called "Six innovations in four years."
Cindy Vaillancourt (Web Site) (Facebook Page)	New Candidate. Cindy has a sharp wit and great ideas about how the school system should be run. She also has a record of participation in the community and the school system and ran for the board, with the endorsement of the Howard County Times, in 2004. She is an excellent candidate who I will be supporting this year. She believes that the current board has been unresponsive and uninterested in progress and is willing to address real issues to improve the quality of our school system. Her web site is now up and running, but you can also find her actively posting on the HowardPublicEd Yahoo discussion board.
Marcelino Bedolla (No web site) (Facebook Page) bedolla4boe@yahoo.com	Eliminated in the Primary Election! Marcelino Bedolla ran for the board in 2006. He is a 74 year old retired high school science teacher from Baltimore County who serves on the Operating Budget Review Committee, and the superintendent's Equity Assurance Council. He wants a board that asks more questions and has more discussions with citizens before making decisions. He is concerned with the achievement gap between students of different racial groups and wants to address technology in the classroom, teacher and principal evaluations, and other issues. He sincerely wants to make some changes to improve the performance of some of our most disadvantaged students.
Larry Walker (Web Site) (Facebook Page) larry@walker4boe.com	New Candidate. Larry Walker is a new candidate for the board. He is an active parent and a pastor with two children who graduated from Howard County schools and his wife is a Howard County teacher. He is a long-time youth mentor and received the Comcast Parent Involvement Award last year. However, he thinks the school system is grrrreat! and just wants to keep it that way, so I don't think he has any plans that will actually help close the achievement gap or improve the system in any way. He has a very generic campaign platform, so you need to pin him down on what exactly he plans to do or roll the dice and see what you get if you vote for him. He was recently endorsed by the teachers union, which made a controvercial decision to interview him but not the other candidates.
Leslie Kornreich (Web Site) (Facebook Page) leslie@lesliekforboe2010.com	New Candidate. Leslie Kornreich is a stay-at-home mom and former Spanish teacher who has taught at all levels from elementary through high school and at Loyola College in Baltimore. Her son is a special needs student and she says special education services need streamlining. She in unhappy with the lack of action taken by the board to address overcrowded schools, the inadequate support for students with special needs, the lack of advance planning for snow days, and the general lack of transparency, public input, and proactive planning.
Robert Ballinger (Web site) (Facebook Page) ballinger4boe@verizon.net	New Candidate. Robert Ballinger is a new candidate for the board who also ran in 2004. He claims that former Governor Bob Ehrlich, Senator Allan Kittleman, and other Howard County elected officials have said he is one of the most qualified and credible activists who could win a seat on the Board. He wants a Board that will listen to parents and their concerns, debate, and ensure the system has checks and balances. He wants a "common sense" curriculum and a budget based on fiscal restraint. He has promised a "Contract with Howard County" that involves holding three town halls throughout the county to hear parent and teacher concerns and to make their issues a key part of his first-year action plan.
David Gertler (Web site) davidgertler@mac.com	Eliminated in the Primary Election! Mr. Gertler is an engineer and a parent of school-age children in our public schools. He emphasizes the need for an independent board that holds the school adminstration accountable and is interested in improving use of technology to improve collaboration between students, parents, and teachers. I like your thoughts, but please tell us more about what you would do to make this happen.
David Proudfoot (Web Site, Facebook Page) proudfoot4education@gmail.com	New Candidate. David Proudfoot is a vice principal at Battle Grove Elementary School in Baltimore County, a mediocre to low-performing school well below Howard County standards. According to a Howard County Times article, he has "no qualms with the current board" (in other words, supports the status quo). Although I have met Mr. Proudfoot and think he is a nice guy, I'm concerned that his focus is too traditional and he will not support the reforms I feel are necessary to make the school system more effective. See my blog post on conflicts of interest and bias for my general opinion of educators running for the board and my post Expose' on David Proudfoot for a detailed analysis of his candidacy.
Frank Aquino (Web Site) frank@frankaquino.com	Incumbent. He is running for reelection and is currently the Vice Chairman of the Board. Frank Aquino is an attorney with three children who attend or attended the Howard County school system. He says he believes the the Board must be diligent in ensuring that current programs are regularly and rigorously assessed and that resources are allocated to the expansion and implementation of successful programs. He feels that the school system is successful and wants to keep it that way. I am sure he is sincerely dedicated to providing the best learning environment for our kids, but I have not seen him respond to problems that many parents and teachers have raised and appears to go along with just about everything that the school administration recommends.
Sandra French (Web Site) sandra_french@comcast.net	Incumbent. She is running for reelection. Sandra French is a retired English teacher and a mother of five children (not school age). According to a Howard County Times article, she thinks the board has done a fine job and wants to keep it that way (in other words, keep the status quo). I have heard that Ms. French does a great job of visiting the schools and talking with educators, students, and parents, but during a board meeting to review the HCEA teacher survey this past year, she said, "I am not interested in the negative things when I visit a school. I just want to hear the positive to share and accentuate it." She even said she is not qualified to question the superintendent or staff. I wish she would use her time and energy to address problems and propose solutions to make our schools even better. Instead, she appears to go along with just about everything that the school administration recommends. I believe that Ms. French makes a great cheerleader or ribbon cutter, but isn't serious about looking for and addressing real problems. Read more about Ms. French in this blog entry.

 

 

News Article Description	News Article Links
Candidates for election	Howard County Times, Feb 18, 2010 Baltimore Sun, Jan 17, 2010
David Proudfoot announces his candidacy	Columbia Flier, Oct 29, 2009 The View from Ellicott City, Nov 5, 2009
Larry Walker announces his candidacy	Howard County Times, Dec 9, 2009
Frank Aquino announces his candidacy for re-election	Howard County Times, Apr 8, 2010 Baltimore Sun, Apr 11, 2010
Brian Meshkin announces his candidacy	Columbia Flier, Apr 20, 2010 Baltimore Sun, Apr 24, 2010
Brian Meshkin gets in a food fight with the school!	Howard County Times, May 13, 2010
David Thalheimer announces his candidacy	Columbia Flier, May 6, 2010
Marcelino Bedolla announces his candidacy	Howard County Times, May 13, 2010
Robert Ballinger writes letter to the editor	Howard County Times editorial, April 29, 2010
Sandra French interviewed on her candidacy	Howard County Times, May 27, 2010
Cindy Vallaincourt announces her candidacy	Howard County Times, Jun 3, 2010
Leslie Kornreich announces her candidacy and interviewed again	Howard County Times, Jun 17, 2010 Baltimore Sun Article, July 30, 2010
David Thalheimer interviewed again	Baltimore Sun, Jun 20, 2010
Robert Ballinger and David Gertler announce their candidacy	Columbia Flier Article, July 15, 2010
Sandra French asks for "cooperation" instead of criticism in Board race	Baltimore Sun Article, Aug 7, 2010
Article about all the candidates and the issue of testing	Howard County Times Article, Aug 12, 2010
Article about Robert Ballinger's campaign	Baltimore Sun, Aug 16, 2010
Article about endorsements from the group Democracy for Howard County (Thalheimer, Vaillancourt, Kornreich)	Howard County Times, Aug 19, 2010
Article about League of Women Voters' candidate forum	Columbia Flier, Aug 19, 2010
Article about Marcelino Bedolla's campaign	Baltimore Sun, Aug 19, 2010
Article about proposed new elementary school near train tracks in Elkridge	Howard County Times, Aug 25, 2010
Article about Meshkin and Vaillancourt testifying about the new draft ethics policy	Columbia Flier, Aug 26, 2010
Parent Julie Reybold calls for new Board of Education members to fix teacher turnover and morale problems at Reservoir HS; then Reservoir teacher Terri Silverman provides a rebuttal to her claims	Howard County Times, Aug 26, 2010 Howard County Times, Sep 2, 2010
Cindy Vaillancourt interviewed again	Baltimore Sun, Aug 29, 2010
Article about David Gertler's campaign	Baltimore Sun, Sep 5 2010
Article about how the Internet plays a role in the Board of Ed race	Baltimore Sun, Sep 12, 2010
Article about primary election results	Columbia Flier, Sep 16, 2010
Letter to the editor about Proudfoot plus two rebuttals defending him	Howard County Times, Sep 30, 2010 Columbia Flier, Oct 7, 2010 Howard County Times, Oct 21, 2010
Letter to the editor about French and Aquino supporting reduced employee benefits, but not for the superintendent	Columbia Flier, Oct 7, 2010
Article covering the debate that took place at the Board of Ed candidate forum on Oct 19	Columbia Flier, Oct 21, 2010
Letter to the Editor by Marcelino Bedolla about "rubber stamp" board	Columbia Flier, Oct 28, 2010
Letters to the Editor about favorite Board of Ed candidates	Columbia Flier, Oct 28, 2010 Letter #1; Letter #2; Letter #3