DEARBORN — Three seats on Dearborn’s seven-trustee Board of Education will be contested in the Nov. 4 election. With no incumbents on the ballot, 11 new faces are vying for a place on the board.

The candidates include college teachers, activists, parents and one former trustee. The race in Dearborn is overcrowded, compared to nearby districts where the candidates barely exceed the number of available seats. 

Incumbents James Schoolmaster and Pamela Adams are not seeking re-election and school board president Hussein Berry withdrew his name from the ballot after losing his bid for the Michigan House of Representatives in last month’s democratic primaries.

Mariam Bazzi, the former president and current treasurer of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC), said she decided to run for the board because it is the perfect time to be active in the district as the mother of three children who attend Dearborn Public Schools.

“I want to look at the different policies and examine how we can improve our schools and make sure that our children are getting the best education possible,” she told The Arab American News. “Our schools are our investment. They are funded by our tax dollars. We want to be fiscally responsible while improving education.”

Bazzi said she will apply for AAPAC’s endorsement and go through the same process as any other candidate. 

She is also a Wayne County assistant prosecutor and said her resume and history of involvement and activism in the community make her stand out from the other candidates.

“I am a graduate of Dearborn schools,” she said. “I have three children in the schools. I am invested in the schools, and I understand the community. I have been very engaged in the community for more than 10 years.”  

Bazzi said she was excited about the challenge. She highlighted the importance of the schools, explaining that they impact everybody in the city, even those who do not have children, because they affect property values.

Candidate Ghinwah Karkaba, the chair of Dearborn’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), said she would work on improving the communication between the teachers, parents and the district, if elected.

“There is a disconnect,” she said. “We don’t know what the teachers and students need. We need to sit down with everybody involved and have a dialog about improving our schools. Communication is what’s missing and that’s what I’m trying to bring to the table.”

Karkaba, who also has three children in Dearborn public schools, said she is already meeting with administrators individually to acquaint herself with the different demands of each school.

As for campaigning, she said she is going back to the grassroots approach. 

“I am talking to neighbors, teachers and parents and urging them to register to vote,” she said. “Make yourself heard, regardless of whom you are voting for.”

Henry Ford College (HFC) psychology teacher Mary Ann Hering is also running for the board. 

“I want to take on the issue of all cuts and attacks on public education,” she said. “Over the past few years, our government’s political and economic policies have favored banks and corporations over the future of our children.”

Hering said a seat on the Dearborn Board of education would not allow her to change state and nation’s educational policies, but it would enable her to be a voice for students and parents.

Hering voiced her concerns about class size in Dearborn, adding that she opposes any cuts to education.

She is allied with a fellow candidate, HFC teacher Kenneth Jannot, in her bid for the board of education. They are both a part of a five-candidate coalition running in different races to promote social justice. 

Beside Bazzi, Karkaba, Hering and Jannot, Michelle Audia, Rodger Bartles, Nofila Haidar, Ahmed Harhara, Michael Meade, Christopher Robert Paulsen and Mary Petlichkoff are on the ballot.

School board trustees are elected to six-year terms. They also serve as the board of Henry Ford College. 

The League of Women Voters of Dearborn-Dearborn Heights will hold a public forum for the candidates on Thursday, Sept. 30, at the Dearborn Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette.