As the new school year approaches, Baltimore students and parents are rightly concerned about the surge in COVID-19 cases. But an even more pressing problem, low academic performance subsidized by massive amounts of taxpayer funding, long precedes COVID.
According to Fox Baltimore, “41% of all Baltimore City high school students, earned below a 1.0 grade point average. In other words, nearly half of the 20,500 public high school students in Baltimore earned less than a D average.” And even before the days of distance learning, roughly a quarter of students were at or below a 1.0 GPA. All of this happens under the watch of Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises, who rakes in $325,000 a year.
This lackluster performance isn’t due to a lack of funding. Federal, state, and local taxpayers spend an astounding $15,700 per Baltimore student, a total matched by few large school districts. Yet it’s clear there’s a problem when students listed as “enrolled” in Baltimore schools are not even showing up in the morning. The school system’s recently released recovery plan offers a glimmer of hope, but an academic rebound will take more than lofty rhetoric. Baltimore families deserve better than phony excuses and shoddy accounting.
Titled “Reconnect. Restore. Reimagine,” the Baltimore school system’s road map to recovery contains plenty of admirable sentiments. It’s hard to argue with “personalized learning,” “centering equity in our work,” and developing student learning plans. But there are plenty of (pre-pandemic) problems that simply are not being addressed by the school system’s leadership.
Even the simple task of replacing a school’s roof takes three contractors and more than $1 million (to repair the work improperly done by the first two contractors). Millions of dollars’ worth of boiler repairs and door and window upgrades are green-lit and paid for but ultimately not accomplished. Meanwhile, HVAC equipment goes without being inspected or serviced for years, jeopardizing the comfort and safety of students and leading to higher costs down the road. And too often, the school system’s failures are downright criminal. The Baltimore Brew reports, “Between 2004 and 2008, 11 city school maintenance and facilities employees, including the head of facilities management, were criminally convicted in a corruption scheme that had operated since at least 1991.”
For all these problems, policymakers have few answers other than to throw more money at a broken system. Fortunately, some principals at relatively successful Baltimore schools have found reforms that seem to work. Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School principal Marc Martin champions greater flexibility in allowing principals to hire and fire the staff they see fit. In addition, Martin advocates for successful principals to mentor less experienced principals instead of hiring pricey turnaround consultants. Tying taxpayer dollars to innovative school governance would shake up the broken status quo and offer struggling Baltimore students a chance to succeed.
In addition, policymakers should explore the possibility of funding students instead of broken systems. With education tax credit dollars, Baltimore parents and students can have access to the resources that only well-off families can afford. One-on-one tutoring works for many students, but it is an expensive solution and one out of reach for many low-income students. Educational software such as Rosetta Stone can be more effective than years of traditional foreign language instruction, but this online learning is also costly. Parents can opt to send their kids to a better school out of their county, but it will cost them thousands of dollars on top of their property taxes. Ditto, of course, with private schools.
Allowing dollars to follow students would be a welcome alternative to the broken status quo and empty report promises. The waning of COVID-19 gives policymakers and the Baltimore school system a rare opportunity to break with the past and embrace innovative reforms. Only time will tell if they do what’s best for struggling Charm City students.
Ross Marchand is a senior fellow for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
