By Adam Pagnucco.
In a huge development, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), which represents MCPS teachers, has come out against the school district’s proposed region model. The model would reorganize MCPS’s high school clusters into regions, with each high school offering a different mix of academic programs and students inside each region having an opportunity to apply to those programs. The model does not provide exactly the same thing as the 20-year-old Downcounty Consortium but has a few commonalities with it.
MCEA’s concerns that the region model is proceeding too quickly and is not informed by sufficient stakeholder input echo concerns raised by the county’s PTA organization and Council Member Natali Fani-Gonzalez. And in the teachers union and the county PTA, those concerns are coming from key partners for MCPS. Superintendent Thomas Taylor has done a good job of improving the district’s relationship with both of those entities in the wake of strained relations under his predecessors. In particular, Taylor worked effectively with the teachers to get a huge operating budget increase last year. Even if Taylor doesn’t agree with their concerns, a little give-and-take may be in order to preserve those relationships for the sake of cooperating on common interests (like funding).
MCEA’s press release is reprinted below.
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November 6, 2026
Contact: mceapress@mceanea.org
For Immediate Release
MCEA Opposes MCPS’s Proposed Regional Program Model
Rockville, MD – The Montgomery County Education Association’s Representative Assembly voted last night to oppose MCPS’s proposed regional program model for secondary schools. While MCEA supports the goal of the proposed model – to increase access and equity to enriched instruction – the Association does not have confidence that the plan, as currently proposed, will meet that goal in any meaningful sense.
MCEA calls for an immediate suspension of the current process until all stakeholders are actively involved in the development of a new model. Specifically, MCEA will advocate for the creation of a new plan that:
- Includes MCEA input in the design
- Limits the financial impact on other system initiatives
- Limits the impact on other system initiatives that are successful and should serve as models for expansion
“MCEA’s elected representatives voted for more community input from educators, parents, and students – not less. We want to ensure that any new regional model is not only informed by the broader community, but that we don’t compromise meaningful equity and access in any new regional secondary program,” said MCEA President David Stein.
“We welcome new programs and policies in the district that improve student outcomes,” added MCEA Vice President Danillya Wilson, “But we remain deeply concerned that the district is moving too quickly to meaningfully gather input and address the various issues that we’re sharing as a community.”
“Access to programs is too important not to get it right. Let’s do this in a thoughtful manner that genuinely enhances equity and access.” President Stein continued. “We want to ensure that we’re not creating new problems in efforts to resolve ongoing concerns.”