Opinion: Montgomery County Schools Must Restore Neutrality and Put Academics First

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Public schools occupy a difficult position in American life. They are government institutions serving families with profoundly different political, religious, scientific, and moral beliefs. That is why neutrality concerning social issues matters.  Public school focus on academic achievement is the service requested by families.

The Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBE) has adopted controversial policies involving parental rights, equity and gender identity. Reasonable people can support or oppose aspects of these policies.  But these issues are secondary to the academic focus and primary purpose of public schools.

Schools must protect every student from bullying, harassment, and discrimination. That is not controversial. Children and teachers deserve dignity and safety in the classroom.  But there is an important difference between protecting students and adopting anti-family positions on unresolved cultural, medical, and political issues.

Students, teachers and taxpayers lose when our school system spends millions of dollars in court battles to contest political policies.  Not including lawyer fees, MCBE spent over $1,500,000 to settle the Supreme Court Case – Mahmoud v. Taylor, and was further directed to reverse their policy to not inform parents of class lessons and not to allow religious opt-outs.  This expenditure is just one display that current MCBE policies are not neutral and do not protect children or teachers from discrimination.  Many feel that litigation is the only way to overturn current illegal policies and actions. 

When schools use language and resources tied to contested ideological frameworks, display symbols associated with modern political movements, or establish policies that many parents believe move beyond basic anti-discrimination protections, families start asking whether schools are acting as neutral educational institutions or as advocates for particular viewpoints.

Voters can restore a neutral policy approach in the upcoming MCBE election. Montgomery voters face a choice between candidates who appear comfortable continuing the county’s current ideological direction at the expense of academics; or, candidates who believe schools should return to a more institutionally neutral posture and focus on academic achievement.

Many parents — including moderates and independents — are not looking for schools to become culture-war battlegrounds in either direction. Parents want schools focused on academics, safety, transparency, and preparing students for adulthood. They want children taught how to think, not what to think.  Parents want their money put into academics – not politics and legal fees.

Neutrality does not mean silence or indifference. It means creating space for disagreement in a pluralistic community. At a time of growing polarization, MCPS must seek to unite families around educational excellence rather than deepen the perception that schools are taking sides in broader cultural conflicts.

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