Baltimore mayoral candidate state Del. Jill Carter unveiled her education plan Wednesday outside school headquarters ? a building she said is rife with corruption.
“We have too many bureaucrats making $100,000 a year,” she said. “The money doesn?t find its way to the children.”
Unlike other candidates who pledged large increases in public safety spending, Carter argued the link between education and crime was just as important.
“I will allocate 20 percent of the general fund exclusively for education,” she said. “The current mayor only spent 11 percent of the most recent budget on education.”
Carter also said she would dissolve the partnership between the city and the state to restore local control to schools.
“I also support a majority-elected school board,” she said. “I believe management of the schools should be democratic.”
Other proposals offered by Carter included a thorough audit of school finances, and school-based budgeting.
“It?s akin to the concept of charter schools,” Carter said.
How to improve city schools with low graduation rates and falling test scores has been a contentious issue throughout the mayoral race.
Carter and rival Mayor Sheila Dixon clashed last week in a radio debate over local control of schools, with Carter claiming Dixon did not support Carter?s proposal to end the city-state partnership.
“Sheila Dixon didn?t come to one single meeting to address the city delegation, not one single time,”Carter said.
Dixon countered that Carter did not attend meetings she held with the city?s state representatives to discuss the idea.
“Jill Carter didn?t see me because she wasn?t there at any of the meetings,” Dixon said.
Mayoral candidate Keiffer Mitchell Jr., a city councilman, also has endorsed local control of schools, but Carter said the change requires state legislation.
