By Norah Lesperance

November 22, 2020

Lynne Harris and Sunil Dasgupta were both vying for four-year MCPS school board member Jeanette Dixon’s at-large seat. Harris won the seat without Dasgupta’s coveted endorsement from the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA). But how?

Student volunteers credit this victory to a strongly student-centered campaign, solid organizing, and influential endorsements. Harris went without the MCEA endorsement due to her strong criticism of their handling of staff at Damascus after the school’s hazing incident, but she did rack up key endorsements from the Washington Post and the Sierra Club alongside respected student-lead groups like Montgomery County Students for Change, Silver Chips, and MoCo Students on Climate.

Silver Chips Editor-in-Chief Anika Seth explained that Harris was endorsed by last year’s Editorial Board, and this endorsement was then upheld by this year’s Editorial Board despite controversial comments made to Silver Chips about the teacher’s union. Seth emphasized that “[the Editorial Board] felt [that Harris] would consciously amplify youth voices,” and this rang true when “she immediately emailed Silver Chips asking how [they] can work together to improve the process of reporting sexual misconduct within the county” upon winning the election. Harris’ commitment to understanding students’ needs is what placed her above Dasgupta amongst the members of Silver Chips’ Editorial Board.

No matter how appealing Harris is to Montgomery County students and families due to her endorsements and qualifications, her victory would not have occurred without dedicated organizers who worked tirelessly to get out the vote. Blair senior Dana Graham, a fellow on Harris’ campaign, “loved working early voting and Election Day sites, talking to voters, and passing literature.” Graham was not alone, citing “dozens of student fellows all over the county” who pulled off an unmatched ground game to elect Harris.

Zoe Tishaev, a current freshman at Duke University, 2020 graduate of Clarksburg High School, and campaign fellow for Lynne, mentioned having representatives working with Harris “at every polling site for almost 13 hours of the day.”

Members of Sunrise Einstein participated in vote tripling at AEHS and the Silver Spring Civic Center, MoCo for Change had members spread out to promote Harris at the polls, and Students 4 Lynne held multiple phonebanks over Zoom, distributed yard signs, and dropped flyers in mailboxes around the county. This unwavering dedication and commitment to electing Harris to the board ended up being unbeatable. She built up this wave of support by making her prioritization of amplifying student voices unashamedly clear, and supporters are hopeful for the future Harris holds on the Board.

Tishaev’s former position as Clarksburg’s PTSA vice president gave her “first-hand experience working with Lynne on advocacy issues” due to Harris’ Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) presidency. She, like many other Harris supporters, agreed that Dasgupta was a great candidate. But Harris’ resume as a lawyer, nurse, and advocate for equity provided hope for students like Graham and Tishaev.

“She inspires me and I’m so excited to have someone on the board that I know I’ll fight for students,” said Graham.

Tishaev feels that “we finally have a truly equity-minded, and active, member of the board.” These sentiments are shared by student organizers all around the county and are not to be taken lightly.

Harris supports the removal of Student Resource Officers (SROs) from MCPS schools in favor of a stronger support system for students’ mental health, as well as practicing restorative justice. She also wants to take action on the boundary analysis to shrink the opportunity gap in MCPS. These are two policies that are widely popular among student activists in Montgomery County and progressive organizers are confident that Harris will act on their behalf.

Seth is hopeful that meaningful change will take place in MCPS. “[Harris] is already actively looking to better understand the student experience,” she explained. “It’s quite validating.”