Tuesday, March 18, 2014

MCEA Announces More Recommendations in the 2014 Primary Election

MCEA announces recommendations for
additional legislative seats in Districts 16, 17 and 20
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is proud to announce additional results of its candidate screening and recommendation process for legislative races in the upcoming primary election. MCEA represents more than 12,000 professional educators employed in the Montgomery County Public Schools. MCEA’s recommended candidates will appear on its widely recognized ‘Apple Ballot’.
District 16
In Legislative District 16 (Bethesda), MCEA is pleased to announce its support for Susan Lee to fill the State Senate seat being vacated by Brian Frosh. Ms. Lee has been a strong advocate for public education throughout her career as a state delegate. MCEA is proud to have supported Ms. Lee in her first run for office, and has recommend support for her re-election ever since.
For House of Delegates in District 16, MCEA is announcing its support for Bill Frick and Hrant Jamgochian, who join Ariana Kelly as MCEA’s recommended candidates in D16. Mr. Frick is a favorable incumbent with a positive voting record on education issues. Through his service on the Ways & Means Committee, Mr. Frick has been a valuable voice advocating for education funding.  MCEA is recommending Hrant Jamgochian to fill the vacant seat in this district. MCEA’s interview team was impressed by Mr. Jamgochian’s policy background and insight. His record of community involvement has prepared him well for public service.
District 17
MCEA is recommending Andrew Platt to fill the vacant House of Delegates position in Legislative District 17. Mr. Platt’s commitment to ensuring that students from less privileged backgrounds have equal opportunities and his impressive knowledge of social policy issues stood out to our interview team. He joins Kumar Barve and James Gilchrist as MCEA’s recommended candidates for delegate in District 17. MCEA has made no recommendation in the District 17 Senate race.
District 20
In Legislative District 20, MCEA is pleased to announce its recommendations for Will Smith and David Moon for House of Delegates, complementing MCEA’s previous recommendations for the re-election of incumbent Delegate Sheila Hixson and incumbent State Senator Jamie Raskin.  Will Smith’s background in civil rights advocacy and broad experience with a range of non-profits have prepared him well to advocate for the students of District 20. David Moon is an experienced political and community activist who has a detailed grasp of education issues and the social issues that affect public education.
These recommendations are in addition to an earlier round of recommendations made earlier this year. A full list of MCEA’s recommended candidates to date can be found at www.mceanea.org/pdf/2014MCEARC.pdf .
MCEA's recommendations are decided by a vote of our Representative Assembly, our governing body made up of delegates from schools across the county. MCEA advertised our candidate selection process in numerous ways, and contacted all known candidates. Questionnaires were sent to every candidate who requested one, and a large committee of rank-and-file teachers interviewed each candidate. The committee then made recommendations to the MCEA Board of Directors, who in turn made recommendations to the Representative Assembly. All recommendations require a supermajority vote at each step in the process. MCEA’s candidate recommendation process is uniquely transparent.  A description of our process, and the criteria MCEA uses in evaluating candidates are posted on our website at www.mceanea.org/pdf/MCEA2013CRProcess.pdf .

All of the questionnaires submitted by candidates will also be posted publicly to our website later this spring, once we have completed our recommendation process for all races. Recommendations for County Executive and the remaining seats on the Montgomery County Council will be considered later this spring. 

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