It is hard to trust the motives of personalities in the failing school system debate. Political battles will rage on and state and city administrators and advisers will continue to hash out the grand plan to fix Baltimore City schools.

Baltimore does need educational reform if it is going to overcome the dismal proficiency scores in reading, math and science of less than 10 percent, not above 20 percent, in many high schools and the average 50-percent graduation rate among city youth.