Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the full text of Moran's memo been published anywhere?

Yes

Anonymous wrote:Has the full text of Moran's memo been published anywhere?

Hi MoCo parents! I need your help to stop MCPS from silencing student journalists by signing and sharing this petition: https://c.org/4Tmts8jLzT

My name is Pritish Mukherji and I'm a student journalist at Richard Montgomery High School.

On March 19, 2026, MCPS Chief of Schools Dr. Peter Moran circulated a memo requiring school administrators to review and approve every single article published by student newspapers before it goes to print. This blanket censorship policy gives principals the power to edit and kill stories, even when those stories are about the administrators themselves.

On Friday, June 12, 162 student journalists and newspaper advisers from all 25 MCPS high schools sent an open letter to MCPS leadership demanding answers and questioning the legality of the policy. They are calling for MCPS to immediately return to the prior Board-approved policy concerning student expression that protects student press freedom in full compliance with Maryland law.

They have been backed by legal experts, a professor at UMD, and six national free press organizations.

The Washington Post covered their call to action: https://wapo.st/3S0X7Tq

MCPS has not responded to us directly, but spokesperson Liliana López released a PR statement to the press. She said:

"Nothing in the memorandum interferes with student journalism or imposes prior restraint."

This is shamelessly false — and 6 national journalism organizations agree. Unbelievably, the MCPS spokesperson added that they "remain so proud of our student journalists."

If they really are "so proud" of our work, then MCPS needs to back off, allow us to keep producing it, and revoke the censorship memo immediately.

Here's how you can help: Please take 2 minutes out of your day and share this petition (https://c.org/4Tmts8jLzT) with five people you know. Anybody can sign this petition: Non-journalists, parents, teachers, and community members.

Want the complete details? Read the student journalists' open letter at the Student Press Law Center: https://splc.org/2026/06/maryland-students-call-for-withdrawal-of-prior-review-memo/

The letter fully breaks down Maryland's New Voices Act and explains exactly why MCPS' memo is inconsistent with the law.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't the students create their own "paper" and report/write as they see fit?

Because there is no need for them to do that, the student newspapers should not be subject to illegal censorship and the students should fight that instead of accepting it and trying to get around it with their personal resources

You state "there is no need" yet you then immediately state the need!

This scenario is as old as time and has played out repeatedly throughout not only American history but world history.

If the students care about this, they should figure out a solution, not sit by paralyzed and complaining about the status-quo.

These students are clever and enterprising and there are plenty of low or no cost paths they could take to get this done. In fact, this would be a FABULOUS real-life lesson/exercise.

Yes kids can write all sorts of things and self publish which is what many already do on SM. But the point of the school newspaper is an educational one — kids are learning investigative journalism. Taylor and Moran are impinging on the educational value of the program by censoring that work.
But a larger point is that there are already teachers providing guidance to the newspaper writers -/ inserting admin is just another stupid layer of McPS bureaucracy where we are paying lots of people to do things other than teaching. I’d rather have fewer APs and more people in the classroom rather than endlessly creating more make-work for the administrators.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't the students create their own "paper" and report/write as they see fit?

Because there is no need for them to do that, the student newspapers should not be subject to illegal censorship and the students should fight that instead of accepting it and trying to get around it with their personal resources

You state "there is no need" yet you then immediately state the need!

This scenario is as old as time and has played out repeatedly throughout not only American history but world history.

If the students care about this, they should figure out a solution, not sit by paralyzed and complaining about the status-quo.

These students are clever and enterprising and there are plenty of low or no cost paths they could take to get this done. In fact, this would be a FABULOUS real-life lesson/exercise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has the full text of Moran's memo been published anywhere?

+1

Yes, Taylor responsible as Supt. But Moran sounds like the author. Moran gets into lots of controversies, that's for sure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great opportunity for kids to openly oppose MCPS and then write about it for their college applications. I fought the law!

Actually, Taylor fought the law and he will lose.Read the Bethesda Magazine article.

This guy is more and more like Trump.

Don’t care about Taylor as much as you do.

You should care. This guy is trampling programs, schools, and civil rights.

Anonymous wrote:Has the full text of Moran's memo been published anywhere?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great opportunity for kids to openly oppose MCPS and then write about it for their college applications. I fought the law!

Actually, Taylor fought the law and he will lose.Read the Bethesda Magazine article.

This guy is more and more like Trump.

The article says that a guy who makes his money by begging for donations to sue on behalf of student
newspapers is concerned that the law *might* be broken in the future

That's a careful way of saying that Taylor's new rule hasn't been tested yet. It will be, when some dumb principal censors their student newspaper.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great opportunity for kids to openly oppose MCPS and then write about it for their college applications. I fought the law!

Actually, Taylor fought the law and he will lose.Read the Bethesda Magazine article.

This guy is more and more like Trump.

Don’t care about Taylor as much as you do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great opportunity for kids to openly oppose MCPS and then write about it for their college applications. I fought the law!

Actually, Taylor fought the law and he will lose.Read the Bethesda Magazine article.

This guy is more and more like Trump.

The article says that a guy who makes his money by begging for donations to sue on behalf of student
newspapers is concerned that the law *might* be broken in the future