Reply to Will mcps get better post-McKnight?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Will mcps get better post-McKnight?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There is such a strong culture in central office that it will take a complete shakeup with all of the leadership being fired to change it. McKnight was only part of the problem. [/quote]

This is what they need to do. Frankly, they may need an interim for a year or two to do the firings etc before bringing in the change maker. [/quote]

No need for an interim if they can find and hire a strong change agent. But, since this is MCPS in MoCo, the likelihood of that happening is next to nil. :cry: [/quote]

I'm not the PP, but I am someone whose job includes change management. I actually think a long-term interim might be the right call here. It would be a bold move, and I'm not sure the BoE has the stomach for it, but here's the case:

In organizations where there are long-standing issues of trust, it can be hard for a new leader to both make the necessary changes and to build appropriate long-term relationships with staff and clients (in this case, families). In a toxic situation, people still have relationships. You might know that Sue in the next cubicle hasn't done an honest day of work in 15 years, but you also like her and she brings brownies on Fridays, and you are going to be mad at whomever takes action against her even if that action is deserved.

MCPS has massive trust issues. The reporting over the last year has revealed a culture of impunity, in which "favored" individuals were not only shielded from consequences, but rewarded and promoted while whistle-blowers were subject to retaliation.

In this case, where the toxic leadership reaches down so far, an interim superintendent might be the right choice. Let someone come in for 18 months and make all the hard decisions, without worrying about building the longer-term relationships. Then that person leaves a better-functioning, de-corrupted, leadership team for the next person to take over. [/quote]

Your plan would make sense if we didn't know who the interim superintendent would be. But we do. And Dr. Felder is no change agent.

She is of the same ilk as Dr. McKnight. She parrots equity-focused soundbites and speaks in empty eduspeak. She is there to keep doing what was already in motion. Not change things.[/quote]

I'm the PP and the thing about change management is that you can't do it all at once. I don't know enough about Dr. Felder to know whether she's the right person for the job, but what if she was able to "just" handle the pieces that relate to HR, bullying, harassment, and retaliation.

So, maybe you want her to also roll back lottery-based admissions to magnets, but the bigger priority is re-establishing trust between teachers, staff, administrators, families, and the Central Office regarding handling of serious HR actions.

That might be enough for one year, and then a new superintendent could look at the downstream issues once baseline trust is restored. [/quote]

Felder's interim appointment is only through July 1.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics