Name: Steve Abrams
Age: 61
Town of Residence: Rockville
Family: Married to the former Judy Goldscheider, two daughters, Elisia (27 years old) and Jennifer (24 years old), both graduates from Richard Montgomery's IB program.
Previous offices held: Rockville City Council (1980-1989); Montgomery County Board of Education (1992-1996 and 1998-2002)
Occupation: Money Management and Venture Capital
Current Employment: Counsel, Meyers-Meighan Wealth Management Group
Previous Employment: Senior Lobbyist, AIPAC; Deputy Counsel, House International Relations Committee; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Food and Consumer Services; General Counsel, Inter-American Foundation
Education: B.S. in economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1968); MBA, American University (1971);
J.D., University of Baltimore School of Law (1974)
Community Ties: Rockville and Montgomery County resident since 1974; board member, Centro Familia; Leadership Montgomery (2001 class); member, Maryland State Roads Commission; member, Congregation Har Shalom; chairman, Montgomery County Republican Party; member, Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Endorsements: My wife and daughters
1. What is your top public-service accomplishment?
Hiring Jerry Weast as Montgomery County Superintendent.
2. Why do you want to serve on the Board of Education?
Montgomery County Public Schools are important to all taxpayers in our community, not just who currently have students attending. The current Board needs an experienced, independent voice who understands the broader implications of policies being discussed and who can articulate it in ways the public understands. I would like to serve in that role once again.
3. What are the top three problems facing Montgomery County Public Schools and what approaches will you use to solve them?
A. Meeting the administrative requirements of the Leave No Child Behind legislation in a cost-effective and humane way. The hidden cost of the new legislations is taking a high toll on our administrators and classroom teachers. One of the approaches I would hope to introduce is the use of support personnel to collect some of the evaluative data required, thus freeing teachers to teach.
B. Maintaining the support for the early elementary school initiatives for impacted students, extending it through grades 3-5, and improving our middle schools. Most research suggests that gains made by impacted students in early elementary school from smaller class size and other interventions is sustainable only if it continues throughout elementary school. I will champion that approach. I believe all students would benefit from more rigor in our middle schools. I was an early supporter of the Middle Years program implemented at Julius West Middle School and would push to replicate it and other programs throughout the system.
C. Changing the culture within MCPS regarding special education programs. The gains we have made in early childhood education occurred in part because of a change in culture within the system. That same kind of culture change is needed if we are to successfully implement the mainstreaming of our special education students. Regular classroom teachers and school principals need training in addressing this need, particularly with regard to implementing IEPs.
4. Do the issues in Potomac area schools differ from the rest of the county?
No. The issues in the Potomac area schools are the same. However, the demographics are different.
Why should a parent with students in Potomac-area public schools support you?
Potomac area parents should support me for the same reasons that the rest of Montgomery County voters should support me - because I approach the business of public education as a problem solver, committed to identify and implement the most cost effective solutions for our educational needs.
5. How will voters best distinguish between you and your opponent?
I will once again bring an informed, independent voice to the Board of Education. I'm not in anyone's pocket. My opponent is too beholden to the teacher's union to always act objectively.
6. Should the school system declare as surplus the Brickyard Road school site? Why?
Maybe. The criteria should be whether the site is needed for educational purposes in the forseeable future. I believe Seven Locks Elementary School should be retained even after the new Kentsdale facility is opened. It should be used to help reduce both class size and the utilization of portable classrooms in the cluster. After that has been done, an evaluation of the need for the Brickyard Road site should be conducted.
7. Do you support building a new, larger elementary school on the Kendale Road site? Why?
Yes. The Kentsdale [sic] Road site provides a more cost-effective approach that the phased modernization of Seven Locks Elementary School. In addition, once it is opened, an effort can be made to look at ways to better utilize all elementary classroom space in the cluster. 
8. How would you characterize the decision-making process about how to proceed on Seven Locks Elementary School? Is there anything you would like to do differently?
I believe the school system could have communicated better with the community. The failure to do so has caused some unnecessary anxiety on both sides.
 9. Every school in Montgomery County appears to have significant levels of lead contamination in the water. What is the appropriate response and action about this?
The appropriate response is to inventory the system and determine whether any sites present an immediate safety problem for our students. Those that do should be corrected immediately.
10. What is your assessment of the new grading policy? How would you explain it to parents and students?
Short answer. While the intent was laudable, getting 50% for showing up doesn't cut it from an educational point of view.