Three women find path to leadership through education

Now a three-term Frederick city alderman, the Democrat said this week that her outspoken involvement in school issues was her ticket to leadership at Frederick’s City Hall.

‘‘I think it’s what got me elected,” she said.

Kuzemchak is not alone. Many Frederick County women have risen to elected office or high-profile leadership positions through involvement in education issues.

Jan H. Gardner (D), president of Frederick Board of County Commissioners, was also a PTA mom concerned about school overcrowding, budget and finance issues, and often joined Kuzemchak at county planning meetings.

The women became well-versed in the county’s growth ordinances and zoning laws and often went head-to-head with developers, who dubbed them ‘‘Mommy Mongers” for their adversarial positions.

Kuzemchak delved into Frederick city issues, arguing that the city’s government was not doing enough about the issues that mattered most to her — education and safety. Kuzemchak said she decided to run for city office in 1997 to change things from the inside, and was elected that year.

Gardner took the legislative chair position for the county’s PTA council from Kuzemchak while immersing herself in planning commission committees to rewrite the county’s growth-control ordinance.

Her years as a volunteer advocate honed her public speaking skills and also showed her that she could affect change as a resident, she said.

‘‘I thought the next logical step was to run for county commissioner so that I would actually have the power of the vote and be a decision-maker,” Gardner said.

In 1998, Gardner was elected to her first term as county commissioner. Her experience as an advocate for education issues gave her more than just name recognition when she decided to run for public office.

‘‘I did have the name recognition, but also people recognized that I was motivated by the general interest of public service and for the betterment of the community,” Gardner said.

Gardner, 51, noted that she shares similarities and differences with other female leaders in Frederick County who have cut their teeth in education. She pointed out that many people first jump into politics through issues that are personal. Education just happens to ‘‘start a fire in a lot of people,” she said.

Gardner and Kuzemchak said education is still a priority and focus of their current positions in county and city government.

Unlike Kuzemchak and Gardner, Linda D. Burgee’s ascent to the superintendent’s office of Frederick County Public Schools was not borne out of parent advocacy.

Instead, Burgee has spent her entire 26-year career inside Frederick County schools, first as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, instructional director and then-associate superintendent. She was appointed superintendent in 2005, making her the first woman to hold the position.

‘‘I would not describe myself as an active advocate,” Burgee said, preferring instead to be an advocate for her class, the schools she worked in and their PTAs. Rather than volunteering, Burgee said her various professional experiences helped her to establish relationships in many diverse Frederick County communities, from Emmitsburg to Frederick and Kemptown.

Her role as a mother helped inform her job as a teacher and principal since she gained perspective into what it was like for parents to navigate the school system, Burgee added.