Mathur files for school board run

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009

Narain K. Mathur of Waldorf entered the race for the Charles County Board of Education on Oct. 1.

He is currently the lone candidate for the seven open positions in 2010.

Mathur, 52, ran in 2006, but did not have enough votes to push him through the primary.

Losing by some 300 votes, Mathur said if anything, the loss pushed him further to want to run again.

School board elections are nonpartisan, so the primary cuts the field to 14 candidates if necessary, double the number of seats open.

"I have good support this time and look to start campaigning in January," Mathur said.

Mathur currently works for Century 21 H.T. Brown Real Estate in Waldorf and says he has a lot of real estate community support along with many parents and teachers.

At the time he ran in 2006, school safety was the inspiration for his desire to be on the board; he said that the school system should play a larger role in ensuring student safety.

Mathur said he noticed a lot of safety concerns on school buses, and still sees the same concerns, such as students standing on buses, fighting and so forth, while the only adult on the bus is paying attention to the road.

"I suggest some kind of adult supervision on the bus," he said referring to either a school staff member or parent volunteer.

Mathur is also looking to get more incentives and bonuses for teachers, reduce class sizes and come up with a better plan for student transportation allowing all students an opportunity to have bus transportation.

"The neighborhood I live in has no bus transportation," he said about the Charles Crossing neighborhood in Waldorf.

School officials agreed that there is no bus transportation in this neighborhood as it is within a mile and a half of Westlake High School. Transportation is provided for students one mile or less from elementary and middle schools and a mile and a half for high school students.

Mathur aims to ensure teachers are well-compensated for their roles in educating children if he becomes a member of the school board. He said teachers should be compensated based on classroom performance; if the majority of a class is scoring high on standardized tests, then the teacher should get rewarded.

Many teachers from Charles County are going to teach in other counties for higher pay, he said, which is something he would like to see the county avoid by having more competitive salaries.

According to the Maryland State Department of Education Web site, the minimum salary for a starting teacher in Charles County with a bachelor's degree is $43,724. With the same degree, starting teachers make $43,240 in St. Mary's County, $44,600 in Calvert County and $44, 355 in Prince George's County.

Mathur said students and teachers will benefit from teachers getting more compensation based on class grades.

He is also looking to put "more focus on children."

When it comes to schools, Mathur said there should not be a focus on building new schools, like the new high school scheduled to open in 2013, but rather a focus on adding to the already existing schools.

And by adding to, he does not mean with relocatable classrooms.

"Add on to the school you have," he said about helping with the amount of students at each school adding "I don't want to see trailers at all."

While many of these concerns would run into budget restraints, he said they are things that need to be addressed.

Mathur has lived in Charles County for seven years with his wife, Sadhna, and daughter, Priya, who is enrolled in the public school system.

gphillips@somdnews.com