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Montgomery County (web | news) , Md. - The Montgomery County school system, 16th largest in the U.S., is giving its leaders, including the group of candidates running for three open seats, a long list of priorities.

More than 139,000 students pack into Montgomery County schools every day. Its student-body is growing more and more diverse, creating new challenges that at large-candidate Phil Kauffman says need to be addressed immediately. "We have an increasingly diverse population in Montgomery County and how we meet the needs of those kids during a time of declining revenues I think will be one of the major challenges we will face," said Kauffman.

Kauffman's opponent Tommy Le agrees the next school board will have to monitor finances closely in order to keep educational options available. "I would promote the idea of opening more curriculum and vocational careers so that other students from low income and especially with some students with disabilities where they can learn a job skill and join the workforce right after high school," said Le.

12 year incumbent board member Steve Abrams is running against Laura Berthiuame in District Two. During his tenure, Abrams has seen the minority population in the schools become the majority with 60% of the student body now Hispanic, African-American or Asian. "Could we be one of the first jurisdictions to solve the problem of maintaining levels of excellence while undergoing that kind of demographic change," asked Berthiuame.

Abrams believes the next board will face difficult budget decisions with funding sources still in flux. "You now have people introducing slots to help fund education with a very flawed slots proposal that probably won't yield the amount of money that they're thinking about in a timely fashion, and the question is whether we're going to continue to get the kind of resources we need to do the innovative things that we're doing," said Abrams.

But candidate Laura Berthiaume says funding the system through student fees isn't the answer. "A practice of nickel and diming our parents and imposing a hidden user fee on our parents for things that ought to be included in our curriculum under state law," said Berthiaume.

Since the school's budget makes up more than half the county's finances, Berthiaume wants to keep the community informed and open the lines of communication. "To begin to address the budget process so we're sure we feel like everybody has a seat at the table so that we have enough time as a school board to really dig into the numbers and make sure that our money is being spent wisely on programs that actually help kids learn," said Berthiaume.

It will be an easy re-election bid for incumbent Christopher Barclay since he's running unopposed in District 4.

As the five candidates battle for the three spots on Montgomery County's Board of Education, they'll have to deal with a budget that wasn't fully funded and an even tighter budget this year. They'll also face a school population that's becoming more diverse and the challenge of how to increase student test scores.

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