By Madison Go | October 30, 2025
In a district ranked among the top 1% of public schools in the nation, parents and students might expect stability, communication, and mutual respect between the Board of Education, parents, and the educators who make that excellence possible.
Instead, Montgomery Township has become defined by tension and distrust, a conflict that threatens the very quality of education that earned it such distinction.
From left: Board members and the attorney at the October meeting. The current board is fractured. Ting Wang, Joanna Filak, Ania Wolecka-Jernigan and Vanita Nargund speak in favor of greater board oversight of the curriculum and Michelle Dowling, Maria Spina, Cookie Franco-Herman, Pat Todd, and Christina Harris speak in favor of supporting the educators who have led the high performance district thus far.
Over the past year, the Board of Education has become increasingly involved in day-to-day instructional decisions— many would describe it as micromanagement.
Last month, the board initially voted not to approve the curriculum for two new courses—AP Research and AP Seminar—even though teachers had already been approved and paid to develop it. It wasn’t until Superintendent Mary E. McLoughlin made a last-minute plea that the board reversed its decision, approving the curriculum just a week before this school year began.
Students nearly lost the opportunity to take classes designed to foster independent research and college-level analysis. AP Seminar is the foundational course where students learn skills like critical thinking and research by analyzing complex topics from multiple perspectives. AP Research is the second-year course where students conduct an independent, year-long research project on a topic of their choice.
It’s hard to call this oversight; it feels more like interference.
This is not an isolated incident, either; it’s a pattern driving qualified professionals away.
Montgomery High School Principal Heather Pino-Beattie has spoken about how the district’s “hostile” school board reputation has made it progressively harder to hire administrators.
Qualified candidates have withdrawn from consideration after watching our board meetings online, unwilling to work in such a belligerent environment.
When leaders and teachers are afraid to take jobs in our schools, it’s not just a political problem, it’s a student problem.
At September’s Board of Education meeting, after board members criticized the science and math departments at MHS, physics teacher Mr. Craig Buszka expressed what few teachers have said so plainly:
“A more productive dialogue could be made between [board members] and the people in this room [parents and educators].
“That could make the district’s commitment to communication… something that’s natural and not simply performative.”
Note the definition of performative: “Done or expressed insincerely or inauthentically, typically with the intention of impressing others or improving one’s own image.”
Teachers have expressed that certain board members are more interested in asserting control than in engaging constructively with the people who understand this district best.
Principal Pino-Beattie’s leadership philosophy offers a stark contrast. “In everything I do,” she said, “I ask myself two questions, and always in this order: Is this best for kids? Is this best for the adults that work here?”
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The principal said: "Supporting teachers is inseparable from supporting students is what has kept our school thriving despite the tension.
“When you make [MHS] a good place to teach and grow—that’s also what’s best for kids,” she said.
The recent actions of certain board members (Ting Wang, Ania Wolecka-Jernigan, and Joanna Filak) include: Demanding to review and approve even small instructional details such as pacing guides. This shows a lack of trust in the staff’s expertise and goes beyond their proper responsibilities.
This kind of interference has repercussions: Delays and reversals have nearly disrupted student schedules, have removed vital services for students, and have shut down various planned programs.
The goal of public education is not power or politics, it is students. But when elected officials turn professional oversight into personal control, that’s who they’re affecting most.
Madison Go is a senior at Montgomery High School.
