Baltimore whistleblower on state of Baltimore City schools

[andwhat]

MD is ranked #1 for school in the United States. Baltimore City is ranked #24 of 24 counties in MD.

How is this life in the US?


therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=18292

[Bernadine]

Jesus. The poor kids don't even have fucking WATER to drink?

I read another article linked from an article you posted last week about a student in the city, and how he's trying to graduate. In my whole life, I haven't faced the struggles, and probably won't face the struggles, that these kids face by the time they're in high school.

And what do we do? What's the solution?

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 8:40:12 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

Jesus. The poor kids don't even have fucking WATER to drink?

I read another article linked from an article you posted last week about a student in the city, and how he's trying to graduate. In my whole life, I haven't faced the struggles, and probably won't face the struggles, that these kids face by the time they're in high school.

And what do we do? What's the solution?

Well one start would be to not have DeVos as Sec of Ed. But that ship has sailed.

[TamiTaylor]

This is school all over the country. I have been at three separate schools all with massive mold problems, bat infestation, or cockroaches. No heat in the winter and barely any a/c in the warm months. My classroom now has a massive ladybug infestation but I refuse to complain because I know it can be much worse.


My district now gives an allowance for making copies. Once it is used each month we can't make any more. Never mind the fact that we don't have enough books. I'm literally coping textbooks or class books form my kids. I'm lucky that my school we all try to pass badges around for when someone needs $ to make the copies.

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 9:21:06 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

This is school all over the country. I have been at three separate schools all with massive mold problems, bat infestation, or cockroaches. No heat in the winter and barely any a/c in the warm months. My classroom now has a massive ladybug infestation but I refuse to complain because I know it can be much worse.


My district now gives an allowance for making copies. Once it is used each month we can't make any more. Never mind the fact that we don't have enough books. I'm literally coping textbooks or class books form my kids. I'm lucky that my school we all try to pass badges around for when someone needs $ to make the copies.

No school should be like this. 

This stands out to me because 1. It is relatively local, 2. MD is ranked #1, so if schools is MD are like this how are other states, and 3. MD schools were supposed to get so much money from casinos (which most knew was a lie).

[TamiTaylor]

Feb 8, 2017 9:27:18 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Feb 8, 2017 9:21:06 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

This is school all over the country. I have been at three separate schools all with massive mold problems, bat infestation, or cockroaches. No heat in the winter and barely any a/c in the warm months. My classroom now has a massive ladybug infestation but I refuse to complain because I know it can be much worse.


My district now gives an allowance for making copies. Once it is used each month we can't make any more. Never mind the fact that we don't have enough books. I'm literally coping textbooks or class books form my kids. I'm lucky that my school we all try to pass badges around for when someone needs $ to make the copies.

No school should be like this. 

This stands out to me because 1. It is relatively local, 2. MD is ranked #1, so if schools is MD are like this how are other states, and 3. MD schools were supposed to get so much money from casinos (which most knew was a lie).

It is abysmal. None of these schools have been urban schools either. All either rural or suburban-ish schools. I can only imagine the inner city ones are worse.

[onomatopoeia]

It appalls me that school systems can be so unequal in the same state, let alone the same country. These kids don't have a chance.

This is an interesting related article from the Atlantic that shows that if you compare states internationally as if they were countries, states like MA (for example), rate among the best in the world while states like Arkansas are among the worst. It's a few years old, but still relevant:
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/report-american-education-isnt-mediocre-its-deeply-unequal/280827/

[tacokick]

This is where I taught. We had no drinking water, no chalk, no paper, no computers, broken desks, few text books. 38 kids in a class.

[CheeringCharm]

Feb 8, 2017 9:21:06 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

This is school all over the country. I have been at three separate schools all with massive mold problems, bat infestation, or cockroaches. No heat in the winter and barely any a/c in the warm months. My classroom now has a massive ladybug infestation but I refuse to complain because I know it can be much worse.


My district now gives an allowance for making copies. Once it is used each month we can't make any more. Never mind the fact that we don't have enough books. I'm literally coping textbooks or class books form my kids. I'm lucky that my school we all try to pass badges around for when someone needs $ to make the copies.

I experienced this in two affluent suburban districts. All the teachers who cared at all paid for things OOP (like a class set of novels to tie into a history unit) because otherwise, not having the materials we needed just made our lives that much more difficult. So we just said eff it, I'll pay for it myself, and chalked it up mentally to "charitable donation." I have a friend who works in Philly who says he routinely spends ~ $500 every year on photocopies and materials for his elementary class. 

[karinothing]

Ugh, I feel like the quality/condition of the school should be one of the easiest fixes. I mean especially in MD where you have a pretty decent tax base. Not to mention the casino. Where is that money going anyway?

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 10:03:36 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Ugh, I feel like the quality/condition of the school should be one of the easiest fixes. I mean especially in MD where you have a pretty decent tax base. Not to mention the casino. Where is that money going anyway?

Well PG County and Baltimore City have a great divide between haves and have nots. So the number of people actually contributing to the tax base is actually small compared to other counties. And they are the largest 2 counties in terms of people in the schools system. If the money for schools went across the entire state and not just county, the schools at the bottom would be better or would at least have a chance, but we all know that is never going to happen. 

Really what it comes down to is that people like feeling superior to others.

[karinothing]

Feb 8, 2017 10:16:04 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:03:36 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Ugh, I feel like the quality/condition of the school should be one of the easiest fixes. I mean especially in MD where you have a pretty decent tax base. Not to mention the casino. Where is that money going anyway?

Well PG County and Baltimore City have a great divide between haves and have nots. So the number of people actually contributing to the tax base is actually small compared to other counties. And they are the largest 2 counties in terms of people in the schools system. If the money for schools went across the entire state and not just county, the schools at the bottom would be better or would at least have a chance, but we all know that is never going to happen. 

Really what it comes down to is that people like feeling superior to others.

I really wish states all over would change to a system where all the money goes into one pool and then is distributed throughout the state. Do you know what is happening with the Casino money?

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 10:32:47 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:16:04 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Well PG County and Baltimore City have a great divide between haves and have nots. So the number of people actually contributing to the tax base is actually small compared to other counties. And they are the largest 2 counties in terms of people in the schools system. If the money for schools went across the entire state and not just county, the schools at the bottom would be better or would at least have a chance, but we all know that is never going to happen. 

Really what it comes down to is that people like feeling superior to others.

I really wish states all over would change to a system where all the money goes into one pool and then is distributed throughout the state. Do you know what is happening with the Casino money?

From what I have read is that what money that has been received has gone where it was supposed to go, but instead of it adding to the school budget, the money that was originally slated has been used for other things. So there is no net positive, it is just replacing money. This is what opponents said would happen, but it still passed unfortunately.

[tacokick]

Feb 8, 2017 10:37:43 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:32:47 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I really wish states all over would change to a system where all the money goes into one pool and then is distributed throughout the state. Do you know what is happening with the Casino money?

From what I have read is that what money that has been received has gone where it was supposed to go, but instead of it adding to the school budget, the money that was originally slated has been used for other things. So there is no net positive, it is just replacing money. This is what opponents said would happen, but it still passed unfortunately.

Yup.

[TamiTaylor]

Feb 8, 2017 10:16:04 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:03:36 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Ugh, I feel like the quality/condition of the school should be one of the easiest fixes. I mean especially in MD where you have a pretty decent tax base. Not to mention the casino. Where is that money going anyway?

Well PG County and Baltimore City have a great divide between haves and have nots. So the number of people actually contributing to the tax base is actually small compared to other counties. And they are the largest 2 counties in terms of people in the schools system. If the money for schools went across the entire state and not just county, the schools at the bottom would be better or would at least have a chance, but we all know that is never going to happen. 

Really what it comes down to is that people like feeling superior to others.

They tired this system in TX (called it Robin Hood) and was overthrown in court.

[karinothing]

Feb 8, 2017 10:40:15 GMT -5 TamiTaylor said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:16:04 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Well PG County and Baltimore City have a great divide between haves and have nots. So the number of people actually contributing to the tax base is actually small compared to other counties. And they are the largest 2 counties in terms of people in the schools system. If the money for schools went across the entire state and not just county, the schools at the bottom would be better or would at least have a chance, but we all know that is never going to happen. 

Really what it comes down to is that people like feeling superior to others.

They tired this system in TX (called it Robin Hood) and was overthrown in court.

Interesting. I guess because it is all tied to property taxes, I wonder if it was tied to income taxes whether that would work.

[karinothing]

Has anyone tried suing re: the reallocation of school budget money (moving around the money once the casino money came in)

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 10:53:13 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Has anyone tried suing re: the reallocation of school budget money (moving around the money once the casino money came in)

That may be an option in the future. I can't remember where I read it, but I think there has only been 1 disbursement from the casinos. So maybe they need more data or evidence. My memory is fuzzy, but reallocating the money was not illegal if I remember correctly.

[karinothing]

Feb 8, 2017 11:02:23 GMT -5 andwhat said:

Feb 8, 2017 10:53:13 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Has anyone tried suing re: the reallocation of school budget money (moving around the money once the casino money came in)

That may be an option in the future. I can't remember where I read it, but I think there has only been 1 disbursement from the casinos. So maybe they need more data or evidence. My memory is fuzzy, but reallocating the money was not illegal if I remember correctly.

Does the Casino money go equally to all schools or just to schools in need. Sorry if I am wrongly focusing on this issue. It just seems like that improving the school property is a tangible issue that should just be easily fixable and it is enraging that it isn't!

Obviously the family issues, discipline issues, behavior, administration, teacher issues are more complicated to fix.

[One Girl In All The World]

Jesus.

I'm not really surprised by any of that, but reading it from this teacher's POV and hearing his own experience...it's just mindblowing. All of this is local to me as well, though we are not in the city. And I will be honest, I'm about fed up with our school as the last two years we've had teachers that are completely ineffectual and have zero control over their classes and get zero support from the administration. But it's nothing compared to what the city schools deal with. :/ 

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 11:08:18 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Feb 8, 2017 11:02:23 GMT -5 andwhat said:

That may be an option in the future. I can't remember where I read it, but I think there has only been 1 disbursement from the casinos. So maybe they need more data or evidence. My memory is fuzzy, but reallocating the money was not illegal if I remember correctly.

Does the Casino money go equally to all schools or just to schools in need. Sorry if I am wrongly focusing on this issue. It just seems like that improving the school property is a tangible issue that should just be easily fixable and it is enraging that it isn't!

Obviously the family issues, discipline issues, behavior, administration, teacher issues are more complicated to fix.

I'm really not sure.

[KB]

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-casino-education-20170121-story.html

[andwhat]

Feb 8, 2017 11:53:18 GMT -5 KB said:

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-casino-education-20170121-story.html

Yes. This is what I read.

And when I said that there had only been one disbursement, I meant from the new MGM casino in PG County, not all MD casinos. Just to clarify.

[KB]

In the seven years since the first of Maryland's six casinos opened, they have pumped $1.7 billion into the state's Education Trust Fund — the financial windfall that advocates for gambling promised would go to the state's public schools.

This is interesting. Check out the state budget msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/13sdoe/html/sdoeb.html

[killercupcake]

If their casinos are anything like ours, they actually don't provide that much money. In 2014, Vegas generated 140 million for education and it was distributed throughout the whole state. So in the big scheme of things, it's not all that much.

[KB]

Feb 8, 2017 12:19:48 GMT -5 killercupcake said:

If their casinos are anything like ours, they actually don't provide that much money. In 2014, Vegas generated 140 million for education and it was distributed throughout the whole state. So in the big scheme of things, it's not all that much.

$1.7 billion in 7 years. 

[redwino]

This is terrible and is happening all over the country. I can't get over the water issue. How is such a basic need not being met? The discipline issues of limiting suspensions leaves me with mixed feelings. We have got to figure out a way to limit our suspensions but we also need to keep students and staff safe.

[thejackpot]

Just horrific. I taught in a school in DC with similar conditions and it boggles the mind that these schools are still operating. The physical conditions seem like an easy but expensive fix. The behaviors and educational lapses are going a to be a huge mountain to climb.

[Dig Ophelia]

andwhat , I just read this and thought you might be interested. MD is no longer ranked #1 but sank to #5.

www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-devos-maryland-20170208-story.html

MD's #5 ranking:
www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2017/state-highlights/2017/01/04/maryland-state-highlights-report-page.html

[W.T.Faulkner]

I always wonder how people can be shocked at the disciplinary issues that can arise in underfunded urban schools.

From the gate - from the moment our kids enter kindergarten - they're in buildings that look and feel like shit, that are falling apart, that lack air or heat. They see that their teachers don't have enough to go around, that the books are old, that there's no paper anywhere. Why would they invest in their education when we clearly haven't? Why wouldn't they be angry?

We ask kids and teachers in poorly funded schools to do twice the work of "catching up" and then meeting proficiency with less than half the fucking materials, when they need the MOST funding.

I'm not at a school like that anymore, although I'm still in the city, but teaching at a school like that tried me every day and made my fuse shorter. I can't imagine how the kids felt.