Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He mostly got the budget he wanted to work with, and FY26 just began two weeks ago. Now let's see how this year turns out with him now being fully up to speed and with his (largely) new team in place.

You do realize the average tenure for a superintendent is only 3 years, right? The time horizon and call for patience you're making would make sense if the average superintendent stuck around for 5-10 years, but the reality is Taylor spent one year "listening and learning" about MCPS, and then he'll have one year to do something with the budget he secured, and he'll spend a good chunk of his third year searching for his next job.

When the community was surveyed during the BOE's listening tour, we said we needed a superintendent who would hit the ground running after McKnight's unexpected ouster, and an incredible list of problems to address. Taylor was sold to us by the BOE as someone who could onboard quickly since he was a native son of Montgomery County.

Sorry, but that's absurd. That gives him familiarity with the geography of the county and some of the decades-ago history, but that's about it.

Anonymous wrote:He mostly got the budget he wanted to work with, and FY26 just began two weeks ago. Now let's see how this year turns out with him now being fully up to speed and with his (largely) new team in place.

You do realize the average tenure for a superintendent is only 3 years, right? The time horizon and call for patience you're making would make sense if the average superintendent stuck around for 5-10 years, but the reality is Taylor spent one year "listening and learning" about MCPS, and then he'll have one year to do something with the budget he secured, and he'll spend a good chunk of his third year searching for his next job.

When the community was surveyed during the BOE's listening tour, we said we needed a superintendent who would hit the ground running after McKnight's unexpected ouster, and an incredible list of problems to address. Taylor was sold to us by the BOE as someone who could onboard quickly since he was a native son of Montgomery County.

He mostly got the budget he wanted to work with, and FY26 just began two weeks ago. Now let's see how this year turns out with him now being fully up to speed and with his (largely) new team in place.

Anonymous wrote:I like that he is willing to acknowledge the many entrenched problems MCPS faces, and isn't pretending everything's been going just fine. He doesn't speak in incomprehensible word salads like the previous two superintendents. Yes, it will take some time for him to truly have major accomplishments, but I'm feeling better about his chances to do so.

See, I felt that way initially. And I think if you only pay attention to him and MCPS at a surface level, you'll walk away with this POV.

But in my observation of him, Taylor SAYS the right things but does none of them.

For example: He TALKED about stabilizing and getting things on track with special ed, but nothing has changed for special ed in the most meaningful ways that parents and teachers have been asking for. He TALKS about the additional staff added but most of those special ed staff being added are just part-time staff conversions. There is no PLAN for putting special ed on a better path a YEAR later, despite him listening and acknowledging how bad the situation is in MCPS. Again, at this point, we should have seen a plan for improvement.

He talked about safety and security being his "number one priority." What has he done to drastically improve on this number one priority? Nothing. Chief Jones is absent.

He talked about increasing transparency and accountability, but MCPS has been caught and called out time and time again during his first year for ducking journalists, parents and advocates, and obscuring its processes, decision making and planning.

I like that he is willing to acknowledge the many entrenched problems MCPS faces, and isn't pretending everything's been going just fine. He doesn't speak in incomprehensible word salads like the previous two superintendents. Yes, it will take some time for him to truly have major accomplishments, but I'm feeling better about his chances to do so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

+1

+1. No Superintendent will be enough because people believe all change can happen immediately. Just snap your fingers and all issues will be resolved. None of them will be given credit for the good they do or progress they make. This is our third Super on the districts. I’ve had/have issues with each. But also think they each cared and working to make positive improvements.

Tell us what Taylor has done that is good. You all keep complaining about people saying Taylor hasn't done much, but don't respond with his list of accomplishments. Instead of attacking others, stand by your man.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

I am interested with how the interdisciplinary teams will work for special education. I am really hopeful that they will help! However, I have heard that he is working to get rid of elementary programs which is a real issue. There are kids in the classes who should not be and are taking up all of the teacher time.

So far the “cross-functional teams” are a joke. The special ed people on our school’s “team” have little background necessary to effectively support us. Lord knows how this will turn out!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread simply proves that there is literally not a single superintendent who would make the crazy parents on this thread happy.

Seriously - what could a superintendent do to get a good grade on the DCUM report card? Wave a magic wand and bridge the equity gap while simultaneously never busing a single student? Find hundreds of qualified people who are willing to take on brutal special education positions at salary that doesn't reflect the amount of work that is needed so that programs can be fully staffed?

It is a thankless, thankless job.

He is easily the best since Josh Starr.

+1

+1. No Superintendent will be enough because people believe all change can happen immediately. Just snap your fingers and all issues will be resolved. None of them will be given credit for the good they do or progress they make. This is our third Super on the districts. I’ve had/have issues with each. But also think they each cared and working to make positive improvements.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well Taylor's first year at MCPS is complete. What's the verdict? Will this Superintendent be around for awhile or is MCPS going to continuing burning and churning?

I got to congratulate the man because he somehow managed to be worse than McKnight

No! Not true.

Anonymous wrote:I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

We were denied an IEP last year. He's not fixing anything. If he is for you, you are lucky. They wouldn't even do an evaluation despite multiple teachers and staff expressing concerns and grades dropping.

Anonymous wrote:I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

I am interested with how the interdisciplinary teams will work for special education. I am really hopeful that they will help! However, I have heard that he is working to get rid of elementary programs which is a real issue. There are kids in the classes who should not be and are taking up all of the teacher time.

I think he is doing well based on the circumstances. He was handed a giant hot pile of @#%^ x 1000…

He is doing what he can and going for the biggest issues first.

As a parent of a student in special ed, i can tell you that mcps is severely deficient in meeting legal requirements. Sure, they can litigate until parents give up which was McKnight’s strategy, but he’s actually trying to fix what he can to make mcps meet federal regulations.

Let the guy do his school bus and snow day videos. Its harmless and the kids like it. It’s better than the million plus dollars county taxpayers shelled out to get rid of the last superintendent.

Holding my opinion until we see the results of the boundary and programmatic changes. So far, definitely less than impressed with the consultants and the process for the boundary analysis

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Require HS teachers to give students a syllabus at beginning of each semester or beginning of school year if it is a year long class. Teachers coming in to class announcing that something will be a quiz that same day without any warnings just because teacher had not given the required # of practice/prep or assessment for a quarter to enter into gradebook. And not giving much else that goes into gradebook for a quarter..so if a student doesn't do well on that one pop quiz, their grade tanks and of course student doesn't learn the material.

Some teachers provide syllabi, while others don’t—and the ones we do receive are often very generic. There are no textbooks, and if we’re lucky, we might get a few handouts, which makes it extremely difficult to study or prepare. The lack of regular assignments is a major problem, and the way grading is handled adds to the confusion. One teacher, for example, only gave about 12 assignments, each worth 10 points, but never awarded a full 10—making it nearly impossible to earn an A. That teacher was also frequently absent, and when other teachers stepped in to grade, the results were inconsistent. In one case, a rough draft received a very low grade from one teacher, while the final version—unchanged—was graded much higher by another.

There needs to be more structure. Teachers should use textbooks, follow a clear and consistent syllabus, assign work a few times a week, schedule tests in advance, and post materials online. Students should be given physical copies of the books they’re reading—no replacing them with audiobooks or movies in class.

Taylor promised accountibility and there is none.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed. He made no real changes and the upcoming ones are all for show.

The new secondary grading policy isn't "for show." That's a significant change that's been needed for a long time.

The grading is not the issue. Its the quality of education and supports kids get. Its all for show. We need to go back to traditional teaching with homework, textbooks and structure and not just have teachers making it up as you go. Teaching math, science, english and history without books is absurd. Kids not knowing what assignments or tests are coming and no structure sucks. Some teachers not grading or taking weeks to grade so kids don't know what's going on sucks. Kids not getting a good foundation in elementary means many will struggle later on if parents don't supplement outside. Taylor and the others are tone death.

Agree with this, except for the teachers making it up as they go. They're constrained by the curriculum, policy and variable school admin/particular classroom demographic dynamics. There certainly are those that fail on the other items (well communicated scheduling, timely grading, quality feedback, responsiveness to inquiry, etc.).

In HS we have multiple teachers making it up as they go. Some teachers follow the MCPS curriculum, others don't. There is no accountability.

Your kid must be in the same class as our kid.