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Board of Education candidate Louis Wilen follows the money at Montgomery County Public Schools, but he doesn't believe it should be difficult to do so.

The Olney resident wants more fiscal transparency and accountability from the board and Superintendent Jerry D. Weast — from technology purchases to supervisor salaries — as he campaigns for the board's District 5 seat.

"I really wonder if the money's being spent efficiently and if MCPS is really getting the best deal," said Wilen, a former board member of Rockville's Col. Zadok Magruder High School PTSA and former chairman of its Facilities Commission.

Wilen is facing current District 5 board member Mike Durso and two other challengers, Martha Schaerr and Lou August, in the Sept. 14 primary. The top two vote-getters in the primary will face each other in the Nov. 2 general election.

Wilen described himself as aligned with the views of the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, a group often antagonistic toward Weast and Montgomery County Public Schools over fiscal and transparency issues. If given the chance to renew Weast's contract for another term, Wilen said he was strongly inclined to vote against it.

As an example of when the board should be more aggressive about cost savings, Wilen cited the board's purchase of Promethean interactive whiteboards for classroom instruction and the lack of discussion at the board level about trying to get a better deal.

To improve the purchasing process and the public's ability to oversee it, he said the school district should simply post its entire payment ledger online so residents can track individual MCPS expenditures.

Although initially there would be some controversy over some of the publicized expenditures, Wilen argued, eventually the online ledger would lead to better practices at MCPS. In general, he said, the board needs to be stricter about who signs contracts, arguing that Weast has signed contracts with vendors when this should be done by the school board's president.

But technology purchases aren't the only cost concerning Wilen. He said the ratio of highly paid administrators to students has grown in recent years to an unacceptable level. While he doesn't want to simply eliminate all the positions, Wilen said some supervisors and administrators with previous classroom experience should be made to teach students again.

"If we can get 20 more teaching positions by eliminating 10 administrators, I think we should do it," Wilen said.

In general, Wilen was critical of the fiscal rate-of-return at MCPS, noting that the budget has grown in recent years while the graduation rate (83.1 percent this year) has declined.

He also was critical of the school board's threat in the spring to sue the County Council over $33.7 million in proposed budget cuts for fiscal 2011, calling it an "empty threat" and "showmanship." He also said he would have supported MCPS employee furloughs, including teachers, as a way to reduce costs. The furloughs, Wilen noted, should have taken place on days previously reserved for professional development.

Vocational education is too-often ignored by MCPS, Wilen said. Instead of fixating on college admission rates, Wilen said the school system should provide more help for students interested in vocational education or entrepreneurship after high school. The vocational education provided by Thomas Edison Technical High School in Silver Spring needs to be expanded, he said.

Those vocational students who succeed in careers after graduation should, in turn, be held up as role models by MCPS, Wilen said.

"I think there's unmet demand," he said.

-Political party: Nonpartisan election

-Age: 53

-Residence: Olney

-Family: Married, three children, ages 21, 18 and 17, all in college.

-Education: Bachelor's degree, business administration and computer science, Frostburg State University

-Professional experience: Senior I/T specialist at IBM Corp.

-Community experience: Former board member of Col. Zadok Magruder High School PTSA, former chairman of Magruder PTSA Facilities Commission

-Key issues: Fiscal transparency and easily accessible information on expenditures; MCPS responsiveness; allocating more resources for teachers

-Website: wilenforboe.blogspot.com