Maryland’s public education system is in freefall—and no one in power seems willing to admit it, let alone fix it. In elite counties like Montgomery (MCPS) and Prince George’s (PGCPS), where billions of dollars are pumped into schools each year, teachers are sounding the alarm—but their cries are met with silence from the top, including from Governor Wes Moore.
A viral post from a veteran MCPS teacher this week lays bare the frustration:
“Students can do whatever they want without consequences. Teachers are gaslit to take some kind of accountability for student behavior or achievement… Schools basically force us to pass students. It’s like being in an abusive relationship.”
The tragedy? She’s not exaggerating. This is now the norm in Maryland schools.
The Real Rulers of Maryland’s Classrooms
Let’s be honest: the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA)—along with its Montgomery arm, MCEA—run the show. Local boards of education have become symbolic figureheads, rubber-stamping whatever ideological dogma the union dreams up next.
These “progressive” experiments—like “restorative justice” policies that sound good on paper but are disastrous in practice—strip teachers of any real authority and embolden students to act without fear of discipline.
Behavior spirals. Attendance tanks. Academics fall through the floor.
And what’s the union’s solution? More funding. More power. More control.
Governor Wes Moore: Where Are You?
Governor Moore campaigned on promises of equity and progress, but under his leadership, the situation has only worsened. Has he visited the classrooms where teachers are crying out for help? Has he met with the educators forced to pass students who haven’t even opened a textbook?
Instead, he’s busy smiling for cameras, announcing beer grants and public-private tech hubs while the foundation of public education collapses beneath our feet.
Moore’s administration has failed to address the root issue: the complete lack of consequences for bad behavior and the collapse of teacher morale under union-driven policies.
A Captured Board, A Silenced Staff
The Montgomery County Board of Education has become an extension of the teachers union. Its members are often hand-picked progressives, many with little experience in classroom instruction or real-world education policy. Their job? Serve the MCEA. That means never challenging failed theories like “equity grading,” restorative discipline, or promotion regardless of academic readiness.
If you’re a parent wondering why your child’s teacher seems burned out, defeated, or disengaged—look to the boardrooms and union halls, not the classrooms.
It’s Time to Decouple
The solution is not another “task force” or consultant study. The political body and voting public must rise up.
- Decouple local school districts from MSDE’s top-down mandates.
- Empower local boards and actual educators to set policy—not unelected bureaucrats.
- End the monopoly of the MSEA/MCEA over our public schools.
- Restore accountability to classrooms.
- Bring consequences back for students who disrupt learning.
Let the education professionals teach, let the parents know the truth, and let the state get out of the way.
Governor Moore has a choice: continue coddling a broken system driven by ideology and unions, or actually fix the mess that’s pushing our teachers to the brink and our children to failure.
So far, he’s chosen the former.
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