Jerry Alexandratos: Difference between revisions
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Latest revision as of 09:36, 15 August 2024
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Jerry Alexandratos ran for election for an at-large seat of the Frederick County Board of Education in Maryland. He lost in the primary on May 14, 2024.
Alexandratos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jerry Alexandratos served in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1990 to 1992. He earned a high school diploma from the Bronx High School of Science, a bachelor's degree from Stony Brook University in 1986, a graduate degree from the State University of New York, Buffalo in 1990, and a Ph.D. from the Lodz University of Technology in 2011. His career experience includes working as a research scientist and laboratory manager. Alexandratos has been affiliated with Kitsune and the National Cancer Institute.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Frederick County Public Schools, Maryland, elections (2024)
General election
General election for Frederick County Board of Education At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Frederick County Board of Education At-large on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jaime Brennan (Nonpartisan) | 16.8 | 55,444 |
| ✔ |  | Janie Monier (Nonpartisan)  | 16.7 | 54,976 |
| ✔ |  | Colt Black (Nonpartisan) | 16.2 | 53,403 |
 | Josh Bokee (Nonpartisan) | 16.1 | 53,190 | |
 | Chad King Wilson Sr. (Nonpartisan) | 14.8 | 48,860 | |
 | Veronica Lowe (Nonpartisan) | 12.5 | 41,200 | |
 | Heather Fletcher (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 6.4 | 21,185 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5 | 1,632 | ||
| Total votes: 329,890 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Frederick County Board of Education At-large (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the primary for Frederick County Board of Education At-large on May 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Janie Monier (Nonpartisan) | 12.2 | 14,538 |
| ✔ | | Josh Bokee (Nonpartisan) | 12.0 | 14,332 |
| ✔ | | Chad King Wilson Sr. (Nonpartisan) | 11.8 | 14,012 |
| ✔ | | Jaime Brennan (Nonpartisan) | 10.6 | 12,588 |
| ✔ | | Colt Black (Nonpartisan) | 9.6 | 11,502 |
| ✔ | | Veronica Lowe (Nonpartisan) | 5.8 | 6,881 |
 | Tabitha McLoughlin (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 6,619 | |
 | Mahesh Aitha (Nonpartisan) | 5.2 | 6,206 | |
 | Patti Lee Worsley (Nonpartisan) | 4.6 | 5,508 | |
 | Angie Vigliotti (Nonpartisan) | 4.2 | 5,022 | |
 | Cecilia Reidler (Nonpartisan) | 3.1 | 3,746 | |
| Justin Smith (Nonpartisan) | 2.8 | 3,396 | ||
 | Jerry Alexandratos (Nonpartisan) | 2.8 | 3,343 | |
 | Paul Fairfield (Nonpartisan) | 2.8 | 3,337 | |
 | Allison Medrano (Nonpartisan) | 2.5 | 3,016 | |
 | Rayna Remondini (Nonpartisan) | 2.4 | 2,887 | |
 | Navian Scarlett (Nonpartisan) | 1.9 | 2,261 | |
| Total votes: 119,194 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chris Charuhas (Nonpartisan)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Alexandratos in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jerry Alexandratos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Alexandratos' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a cancer research scientist and laboratory manager, so I love learning new things and teaching them to others. I am a progressive veteran (Navy, Medical Services Corps), with a desire to continue to serve my country, this time at the local level. I volunteer with a local nonprofit helping people with disabilities and their caregivers. I feel that education is under attack by regressive elements in our society who seek to make our country less welcoming to our fellow citizens and immigrants. I am running for the Board of Education because getting a world class education is not only a right for all people, but a way for our country to become a better place to live.
- I strongly support education. Schools not only have a duty to educate children, but they have a moral obligation to make all students feel safe and welcome, no matter their gender, orientation, race, ethnicity, or national origin.
- Schools should teach more civics and critical thinking skills. We are bringing up the next generation of leaders, who will be running the country, the state, and businesses in a short time.
- School classrooms in Frederick County are too crowded and do not have adequate educational materials. There are several schools which are literally crumbling around our students, which is unhealthy and unsafe. We need to codify a maximum class size so that teachers can interact with all of their students.
My stepson is on the autistic spectrum, so I am passionate about special needs education. I helped to start a nonprofit dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities.
I still have my Boy Scout Handbook from when I was a kid, if that tells you anything. However, anyone who gets the sum total of their political or life philosophy from a book needs to get out more and meet people. No one book or film or essay can tell you about the world. Only meeting other people from all places and all walks of life can do so.
Elected officials serve everyone in their community children as well as adults, visitors as well as residents and citizens, not only their own voters or donors. They need to adhere to the highest principles of freedom and liberty enshrined in the Constitution, not pander to the lowest elements within their own base.
I try to remember that having several advanced degrees does not mean that I know everything. As a laboratory manager, I need to listen to everyone, from the scientists in the lab to my supervisor (Lab Chief), to the staff who clean and repair our buildings, as well as outside contractors. I feel like I have learned something from every person I have met.
Elected officials must serve their constituents by making their district or state or nation a more functional and better place to live for everyone in it. If you are elected to any office, then your job is to make sure the government branch where you work is functioning to the best of its' ability to help everyone. In my case, a school board member must ensure that all students are safe as well as receive the best education possible (not just the minimum education required).
I want people to remember that I tried to leave things better than when I arrived.
I remember watching an Apollo rocket take off and a moon landing. I do not remember how old I was at the time.
While I had several temporary jobs as a teenager and college student, my first longer term summer job was learning how to paint from my brother (who was a house painter). He taught me by example to work with my hands, not just how to learn from books. Not only did I learn how to paint, but he also taught me how to put up drywall, and do minor plumbing and electrical work. I still use those skills that I learned from him.
My first formal job was as a Navy officer, when I served on a ship overseas (called "forward deployed"). I served for one tour of duty before returning to a science career.
My first formal job was as a Navy officer, when I served on a ship overseas (called "forward deployed"). I served for one tour of duty before returning to a science career.
There are so many, I cannot pick just one.
When I was younger, I struggled with depression. I got help for it and learned coping mechanisms to prevent future problems. I have also had to learn how to be more patient.
School board members set school policies and guide the curriculum, as suggested by experts in education, to benefit the entire community. Schools need to make sure that all students are thriving and learn to the best of their abilities. Board members need to provide oversight so that schools have and fully use the resources they need to get that job done. School board members also need to protect both students and educators from attacks by politically motivated extremists like Moms for Liberty and other hate groups.
All people in my county are my constituents. Everyone gets input, because the school system is for every student, no matter their national origin or gender or race or socioeconomic status.
I have to listen to the members of my community and school system. I need to recognize that while I have my own ideas, I am not an expert in every aspect of running a school system, and I have not lived my life as anyone else. I support diversity, equity, and inclusion programs so that all students and educators and staff feel safe and are represented. Students need to see themselves in their teachers and other role models, and that is not happening in my county in many schools.
I met with teachers and staff union representatives already. I presented my platform to local organizations, including the Urbana Progressives. I was invited to speak to the local Conservative Club, but I had a scheduling conflict (I will be out of state). I would like to meet with representatives of parent-teacher organizations from various towns and schools.
Good teachers know their students. To measure this, we need more than just test results from standardized multiple choice forms. We need to have teachers interact with students, having time to get to know them as human beings, not a barely visible hand at the back of a room. For example, current teaching techniques for reading are antiquated, and based upon corporate fads that are profitable, rather than effective. This is reflected not only in poor reading proficiency, but also in poor math and science comprehension as well. We need to implement a better reading teaching program such as Right to Read. This may mean re-training teachers who have been using older systems and have not learned new methods in many years.
Not enough students are given an opportunity to learn vocational skills, not just academic skills. That will involve more hands-on training such as in shop classes and apprenticeships. This type of curriculum could also benefit from a pathway from high schools to Frederick Community College, where FCC instructors get to collaborate with FCPS teachers, helping students who express an interest in various vocations learn how to get the instruction they desire.
We need to reach out to the broader business community to get them to realize that schools are an investment, not just a cost. There is a mistaken belief in certain parts of society that profit is good and taxes are bad, but taxes provide services, and the most important government service is keeping our society functioning. Schools have been chronically under-funded, and need revenue to replace crumbling buildings and outdated textbooks. Students are not only the next consumers- they will also be the next generation of employees, business leaders, and leaders of society. Short-changing schools today is short-sighted, just hurting society (and business) in the long run.
Frederick County is a reasonably safe place to live. Schools have safe entry policies, balanced with making schools appear to be welcoming students, not looking or acting like prisons (which can harm kids psychologically). We have to make sure our kids are safe both physically and mentally. Schools have reasonable anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, though they can be improved (zero tolerance policies may be too harsh). In addition to external threats, schools can have internal threats from students or staff. The best way to deal with that is to make sure students and teachers know each other personally, by keeping class sizes low. We also need more mental health counselors in schools, as guidance counselors are not trained for that job. Finally, schools need to allow kids to express themselves, including by being open and welcoming to to gay and trans youth and to immigrants. (Safety includes protecting kids from politically motivated parents who want to demonize them.)
As I said above, we need more mental health counselors in schools, but that is only one aspect of mental health care. Smaller class sizes means students and teachers can get to know each other personally, so students can speak openly about problems before they get bad. Teachers and staff also need to be taught (trained) to welcome all students, not treat some students as unwelcome due to race or gender identity or ethnicity or immigration status.
The school system needs to lobby the county executive to require a maximum class size, allowing for hiring more certified teachers as the county population grows and changes, before schools become over-crowded. New schools need to be built before the old ones are literally crumbling down around students, with failing infrastructure. Home owner associations are required to perform capital reserve studies, which plan for not only maintenance and repair costs, but also plan in advance for replacement of systems and structures at the anticipated end of life. School systems do some of that planning, but it seems to be done on an ad hoc basis rather than on a systematic and planned basis. (Or else we would not have so many parental complaints about schools with mold, water leaks, and failing heating or cooling.)
An ideal learning environment will start with smaller class sizes. Teachers need time to speak with, hear from, and teach every student during class, which is outright impossible when the class is too large. Teachers should be able to know each of their students by name. Classrooms must have enough books for every student, at a minimum, but ideally have up to date instructional materials, extra elective reading, and especially in the early grades, have hands-on materials that students can manipulate as they learn. Classrooms need to feel comfortable and welcoming, not stark and harsh.
Poorly, especially in transitioning from one mode of instruction to another. Teachers had to suddenly switch from 100% remote teaching to a hybrid model that was the worst of both, but they had to do so in about a week. That meant writing up entire lesson plans. Some policies for remote instruction protected student privacy, but they also meant that teachers often did not know if their students were even present and listening. FCPS needs to learn from problems found during the coronavirus pandemic and write up a new set of pandemic instructions and policies, updating them for current curriculum and technology.
As I said above, I would like to meet with representatives of parent-teacher organizations from various towns and schools. I am open to one-on-one conversations as I campaign, and if elected, will continue to meet with people.
Students need to see themselves in their teachers, school staff, and other role models. Therefore, school hiring committees need to better reflect their community and the population of their individual schools, and give an opportunity for people of the same background to teach at a school.
When you spend government (taxpayer) money, you have an obligation to spend it carefully and to give the most impact. You need to be frugal but not cheap. Fiscal transparency should be the minimum expectation. All spending needs to adhere to the rules, and all budgets need to be available to the public. At the local level, I'm not sure how there can even be a counter-argument.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 13, 2024
