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Frederick County voters will choose from among five people running for three seats open on the school board: incumbents Donna Crook of Monrovia and Katie Groth of Frederick, and challengers Ron Bird of Frederick, Joe Chmelik of Ijamsville, and Angie Fish of Frederick.

Joe Volz of Frederick dropped out of the race shortly after making it through the primary. Incumbent Leslie Mansfield is not running for re-election.

We believe voters would do well to choose Crook, Fish, and Groth, all of whom should easily win based on their results in the primary.

We appreciate Crook for her contrarian viewpoint, and we mean that as a compliment. She is not afraid to speak her mind on issues, even if that means she will stand alone at times. Elected bodies suffer when all members agree too readily and too often.

We like Groth's support for ideas to attract and retain quality teachers, such as some kind of mortgage assistance, a partnership with the business community for discounts, and of course better pay.

Both Crook and Groth also believe the school system's budget process should be more transparent, a notion we fully support.

We supported Fish in 2006, and without question find ourselves doing so again. She speaks well on the issues, and as a former English teacher can bring a teacher's perspective to the board.

She supports quality education for all, recruiting and retaining highly qualified staff, and providing safe and adequate schools. As a former teacher, she will be able to provide a unique perspective on her top priorities.

She also stresses that school officials must work with members of our delegation to the General Assembly, and other educators and representatives at the state level, to bring back more money to Frederick County.