A Force for Rebuilding the Foundation of Academic Excellence in Montgomery County Public Schools
Jan 26, 2026
Gaithersburg, MD – January 26, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brenda M. Diaz, a veteran educator, parent, and advocate for student success, today announced her candidacy for the At-Large seat on the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) in the 2026 election. Building on her strong performance in the 2024 District 2 race—where she earned 42.7 percent of the vote and the support of more than 172,000 Montgomery County residents—Diaz is launching her campaign to bring experienced, independent leadership to a school system in urgent need of reform. Her candidacy is focused on restoring academic excellence, strengthening transparency and accountability, and empowering parents and educators as true partners in education..
A former Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teacher with more than 20 years of experience in education, Diaz spent seven years at Gaithersburg High School teaching U.S. History, Modern World History, Latin American History, and Government, while also serving as an MCEA building representative—giving her a rare insider’s perspective on classroom realities, school governance, and district-level decision-making. Her career spans pre-kindergarten through high school, ESOL through Advanced Placement, and public, private, cooperative settings, including the outdoors. She began her career as a Spanish teacher at Lowell School in Washington, D.C., where she later served as Spanish Curriculum Coordinator, managing faculty collaboration and helping develop the school’s partial language immersion model. She has taught in nursery schools, parent-led cooperatives, and founded her own farm- and forest-based education program—experience that gives her a comprehensive understanding of how children learn best and where systems fail them.
A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a foundation in American history, government, and Latin American studies, Diaz is a James Madison Memorial Fellow, a Buchwald Fellow, a two-time participant in National Endowment for the Humanities Landmark Seminars, and a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Case Method Project. Her academic and professional background reflects a long-standing commitment to civic literacy, academic rigor, and knowledge-rich education grounded in critical thinking, reading, and effective expression.
Diaz has also gained prestigious experience through the National Endowment for the Humanities programs such as Voices of the Ancients and The Most Southern Place on Earth, strengthening her expertise in history, civic education, and cultural literacy. She resigned from MCPS in 2022 after serious professional disagreements during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing flawed decision-making, the marginalization of educators and families, and policies that prioritized institutional convenience over student well-being. She currently teaches middle and high school social studies at Fusion Global Academy.
As the founder and director of Heart of Joy Learning, Diaz continues serving Montgomery County families through academic tutoring, Spanish instruction, curriculum support for homeschooling families, writing, and community engagement. Her soon-to-be-released campaign website will introduce a “Success Toolkit,” a practical, research-informed resource designed to equip parents, educators, and administrators with clear strategies to improve reading, writing, math, and civic proficiency across the county.
“My goal is simple: to equip families, teachers, and school leaders with the tools they need to help children thrive,” said Diaz. “I’ve seen firsthand the realities inside MCPS—from declining academic performance and growing safety concerns to an entrenched bureaucracy that resists accountability. When systems protect themselves instead of students, administrative rot sets in. That rot is measurable, visible, and fixable—but only if we are willing to confront it honestly.”
As a candidate for the Board of Education, Diaz calls for a fundamental shift in governance—from a gatekeeper model that restricts access to information to a facilitator framework that prioritizes transparency, clarity, and parental partnership. Central to this vision is her proposal to establish an independent MCPS Office of the Inspector General to investigate waste, mismanagement, and ethical violations, ensuring rigorous oversight and restoring public trust.
Diaz’s published writings expand on this reform agenda. In her Substack article “Letter of the Law Applied Produces Transparency Overwhelm,” she critiques MCPS’s implementation of parental opt-out policies following Mahmoud v. Taylor, arguing that overwhelming families with excessive materials undermines genuine transparency and meaningful parental involvement. She emphasizes leadership that honors both the intent of the law and the practical realities families face as they navigate an already overburdened system.
In her CleanSlateMoCo article “Attach Performance Metrics to All Future MCPS Budgets: Our Children’s Education Depends on Our Fiscal Prudence,” Diaz calls for tying budget decisions to measurable academic outcomes. Citing MCPS proficiency data—55.3 percent in reading and 33.4 percent in math—she questions unchecked funding increases absent accountability and highlights examples from other states and districts that achieved gains through targeted investment and performance-based evaluation.
Diaz directly addresses the role of the Montgomery County Education Association’s (MCEA) institutional power within MCPS in her CleanSlateMoCo article “Parents, It’s Time to Declare Our Independence from Union Control of Schools.” While acknowledging the important role teachers’ unions play in advocating for educators, she argues that MCEA’s outsized influence over district-wide policy has distorted priorities and contributed to systemic dysfunction. She calls for re-centering Board governance on student achievement, instructional quality, and school safety—rather than the organizational and political interests of entrenched institutions.
Diaz’s platform prioritizes raising academic and behavioral standards, restoring safe and orderly schools, respecting parental engagement, and enforcing disciplined oversight of public resources. Though she has received partisan endorsements in the past, Diaz frames her candidacy as independent and nonpartisan—grounded in lived experience as an MCPS educator, a Georgetown University graduate, a James Madison Fellow, and a parent deeply invested in Montgomery County and its schools.
“We cannot fix what we are not allowed to see,” Diaz said. “My commitment is to radical transparency, rigorous oversight, and honest collaboration with parents and educators. We must dismantle the administrative rot that has taken hold and restore a school system that prioritizes deep learning, student safety, and the academic potential of every child.”
For more information on Brenda M. Diaz’s campaign, visit her website at www.diazforboe.com or follow her on X at @BrendaMDiaz4BOE. Media inquiries can be directed to bmdiaz4boe@gmail.com.
