Frazier gets $6K from state's teachers union PAC, while advocating for state's unpopular health curriculum framework in Carroll instead of local one

Friction between county and state continues

Frazier at June 8th BoE meeting and statement from his delegate campaign finance report

A campaign finance report filed on June 9th, reveals that on June 6th, incumbent Carroll County commissioner and district 5 state delegate candidate Dennis Frazier, received a $6,000.00 campaign contribution from the Maryland State Education Association’s Fund for children and public education, a political action committee run by the state’s teachers union, in support of Frazier’s efforts to represent Carroll in Annapolis.

The contribution from the MSEA Fund makes up the overwhelming majority of Frazier’s campaign bank, as shown above.

This comes as Frazier was at the center of a controversy that took place during Carroll’s most recent Board of Education (BoE) meeting, occurring on June 8th, which once again saw the State of Maryland usurp the local BoE’s decision making ability.

(a previous example being when the state overruled the Carroll BoE’s decision to keep masks optional in county schools)

At the crux of the controversy, was which health curriculum framework would be the default offered in Carroll County Public Schools — would it be a version developed at the state level, or one that Carroll’s Family Life Committee had the chance to make select edits to, within the parameters permitted by the state.

Going into the BoE meeting, it seemed like the assumption held by both Board members and the public, was that the local BoE would be able to vote on the matter to make a determination as to which would be the default.

But then as it turned out, the state came in at the last minute, and required that their version be the default, thus requiring parents to explicitly opt-in to the version that was preferred by the local Family Life Committee.

In a dialogue during the meeting between local Family Life Committee chair Amy Gilford and conservative BoE member Donna Sivigny, Sivigny confirmed she thought this was a loss of local control, after having previously mentioned that the state’s version of the health curriculum framework was basically being “forced” on Carroll as the default.

Frazier erroneously attempted to rebut Sivigny’s point-of-view, explaining how this was not a loss of local control because there is actually a comparable state level committee that discusses matters related to the health curriculum and is populated with representatives from all counties — Frazier knows because he is the only one from Carroll to be currently appointed to it.

Despite this conversation happening hours into the BoE meeting, this revelation drew confused gasps and skeptical looks from those in the audience who were still in attendance.

So while the work of Carroll’s Family Life Committee is being steamrolled and the duly elected BoE being made unable to vote on an issue of local importance, here is Frazier being appointed to a redundant state level committee and receiving large campaign contributions from the state’s teachers union PAC.

There is indeed an ongoing struggle occurring between the county and the state as relates public education. And judging by these recent events, it seems clear which side Frazier is on.

Maryland Muckraker is a completely independent and fearlessly conservative blog covering local issues by me, Ethan Reese. After spending nearly a decade in corporate Baltimore in marketing technology, figured I’d have a go at writing. Since then I’ve contributed articles to FOX’s OutKick, PJ Media, and Rare Politics, as well as being named a Writing Fellow with the America’s Future Foundation.