The Double Standard is Undeniable: It's Time to Stop the Attacks on Dr. Karen Roseboro

Montgomery County, we need to have a serious conversation about what is happening right in front of our eyes.

We have a superintendent, Dr. Karen Roseboro, who was brought here to do a difficult job: to lead, to improve, and to modernize our school system. She is highly qualified, nationally recognized, and committed to the success of every child in this county.

Yet, instead of being supported by the officials elected to oversee our schools and our county, she is being subjected to a relentless, coordinated campaign designed to undermine her authority, block her initiatives, and humiliate her in public.

This isn't about policy. This is about power. And it's a playbook I know all too well, because I lived it.

The Glaring Double Standard

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: the former superintendent. For years, the previous superintendent operated with virtually no checks and balances. He faced no public interrogations from the County Commissioners. The Montgomery Herald didn't write front-page editorials attacking his every move. The Board of Education rubber-stamped his decisions. He was given the grace, the space, and the unquestioned authority to run the district as he saw fit.

Now, look at how Dr. Roseboro is treated.

When she implements standard administrative communication protocols — the kind of basic organizational structure expected in any modern school district — the Montgomery Herald publishes front-page editorials calling her actions "absurd," explicitly comparing her unfavorably to the very man who was allowed to operate unchecked.

When she attempts to hire highly qualified staff, such as Dr. Toni Warrick as assistant superintendent, specific members of the Board of Education — notably Bryan Dozier and Isai Robledo — vote against the contract, attempting to cripple her executive team before they can even begin their work.

When she presents budget needs to the County Commissioners, the meetings are turned into public spectacles, where she is interrogated and spoken to with a level of disrespect that crosses the line from fiscal oversight into targeted harassment.

The Pattern is Clear

I have seen this pattern before. When Black women attain prominent executive positions in Montgomery County, we face an immediate, disproportionate, and hostile response from a specific network of political figures, amplified by the local newspaper.

The playbook is always the same:

1. Use the Montgomery Herald to manufacture outrage over routine decisions.
2. Use public meetings not for governance, but for public humiliation.
3. Form voting blocs to block necessary hires and initiatives, ensuring the leader cannot succeed, then blame them for the resulting dysfunction.

They expect us to be exhausted. They expect us to be intimidated. They expect us to eventually give up and leave so they can go back to business as usual.

It's Time to Demand Better

We can no longer sit by while our public institutions are used to play political games at the expense of our children's education. A school district cannot function — let alone improve — when its Board of Education and County Commissioners are actively working against its Superintendent.

To the Montgomery County Board of Education: Your job is to govern the district, which requires working with the Superintendent. The obstructionism and the public disrespect must end.

To the Montgomery County Commissioners: We demand that you treat the Superintendent with the professional respect her position requires. Budget meetings are for financial planning, not political theater.

To the Montgomery Herald: We see exactly what you are doing. Your biased coverage and hostile editorials are a disservice to the community you claim to represent.

A Call to Action

To the parents, educators, and citizens of Montgomery County: Dr. Roseboro is fighting for our schools, but she should not have to fight alone. The loud, hostile voices in those board rooms do not represent all of us.

Here is what you can do today:

1. Show up. Attend the next Board of Education meeting. Stand in the room so they see that the community is watching.
2. Speak up. Use the public comment period to voice your support for Dr. Roseboro and demand professionalism from the Board.
3. Send an email. Contact the Board of Education and the County Commissioners. Tell them you support the Superintendent and expect them to do the same.

Dr. Roseboro was hired to lead. It is time we let her do her job.

— Sherri Harris Allgood