Last night I attended a Prince George’s County District 9 community meeting  with the school system’s new CEO Kevin Maxwell. The meeting was organized by District 9 Councilman Mel Franklin. The purpose of the meeting was for us residents to share our concerns with Dr. Maxwell and pose questions to him.

Lucky for me, all three of our key local incumbent politicians were present at the meeting: Councilman Franklin, State Senate President Mike Miller, and Delegate James Proctor. Since the topic of the meeting was education, I took the opportunity to ask the politicians about next year’s race for District 9 Board of Education seat. I pointed out that if their slate endorses a candidate and includes him/her on their “sample ballot,” that person is more or less guaranteed to win the BOE race. I asked if they would commit to not endorsing anyone in the BOE race and letting us voters choose the winning candidate.

Without any hesitation or further explanation, Councilman Franklin said that he will be endorsing a candidate. Both Senator Miller and Delegate Proctor nodded in agreement without bothering to elaborate on their stance.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed in my elected officials on this matter. But, of course, I am not surprised. Not at all.