Three more people have filed to run for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, bringing to eight the number of candidates vying for three at-large seats.

Larry Bumgarner, an Internet activist who has previously run for the board, filed on Friday. He said in an e-mail that he supports deconsolidation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and giving parents school choice vouchers.

"The kids need us today (more) than ever before," he wrote in an e-mail. If American schools don't produce more competitive graduates, he added, "we are just presiding over the remnants of a great country."

Brian Edwards, a ROTC instructor at Mallard Creek High, filed on Monday. He said he's running to bring better technology to schools and more stability to the board.

"I want to be a voice for students, a voice for teachers," he said.

The retired Army sergeant is making his first run for public office. He would have to resign his CMS job if he won a seat on the board.

Ken Nelson, a business analyst, said he's running because he expects he'll have to pay thousands in private school tuition for his three-year-old daughter. He said Rama Road Elementary, the neighborhood school for his southeast Charlotte subdivision, has poor test scores and a high percentage of low-income students.

A Republican precinct chair and member of the libertarian-leaning Campaign for Liberty group, Nelson said he wants to bring change to the local school system.

"It's absolutely ridiculous what's going on in CMS," he said. "It's time that adults got on the school board."

Eight candidates now have filed to run for the three at-large seats on the ballot this November. Incumbent Kaye McGarry on Monday said she will make an announcement at the board of elections on Friday, the last day of filing.