BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOLS AND THE EDUCATIONAL STIMULUS

With the recent news of the educational stimulus being enacted, my question centers on how much money, if any, Baltimore city schools will end up with. With test scores from the whole state grouped together, Baltimore schools' terrible scores don't garner nearly the attention they ought too. My worry is that bad schools with the worst scores will not receive the money they should if there is an outright competition to get money. The worst schools need the money more than any other to become better schools for inner city kids.

Below is a reprint article I wrote back in March detailing problems in the city school system.


Reprint from my now defunct other blog:

BALTIMORE INNER CITY SCHOOLS DON'T HAVE BOOKS!
Published by ndfenceofobama at 3:58 MARCH 12TH-

My wife who works in the Baltimore City School system came home today with news that there are not enough textbooks for all the kids in the school to use. So the teachers make copies and have students write down assignments in order to assign homework. I asked the question; what happens when these kids go home and need to study? The answer; they don't study, they have no books to study from. Since there aren’t enough books to go around at school, no student gets to take books home. Imagine, a whole school system that doesn’t have enough books and doesn’t allow students to take home any books.
I questioned my wife as if she couldn't’t possibly be telling the whole story. Unfortunately, she is. The politicians here in Baltimore don’t make issues of such things around here. I suppose they are too busy doing damage control over the low standardized test scores Baltimore City Schools render every year. To add insult to injury, the State Superintendent of Schools included all the test scores for the whole state together as a way to insure Baltimore City doesn’t stand out in the negative category. The sad part is Maryland Public Schools was recently ranked in the top for scores across the nation, Baltimore notwithstanding. With a graduation rate of @40%, it is easily understood how these kids feel about education. If we don't care enough to give them books to study from, how can we expect them to succeed. These kids will not have developed any study habits because they have no books to study from. The vast majority will never have a chance to go to college and if they do, they will be even further behind everyone else.