There is not one student who scored at the proficient level in math in 40% of Baltimore high schools in the spring of 2023. That represents 13 high schools in which almost 2,000 students were tested.
Fox45 reported that of the number of students who sat for the examinations, a shocking 74.5% received the lowest possible score.
Critics certainly cannot blame the incredibly bad performance on a lack of funding. The outlet found that taxpayers are paying $21,606 per Baltimore city student, which represents the fourth-highest outlay per pupil in the U.S.
New Maryland state test results show 13 schools in Baltimore City had ZERO students proficient in math.
Committing a child, and that child’s parents, to failing public schools is not the right thing to do.
Maryland parents need school choice. https://t.co/uCcm2c7CoZ
— Rep. Andy Harris, MD (@RepAndyHarrisMD) September 20, 2023
The public school system had the third-highest expenditure on administration per student in 2020. And as recently as May, the Baltimore city council approved additional funding for administrators and teachers in the system.
The state legislature is largely responsible for the massive influx of funding pouring into the beleaguered schools.
Democrats pushed the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future as an overhaul of the state’s education system. The Baltimore Public Schools website said the initiative is designed to “close equity gaps” while improving education.
The results speak for themselves. Jason Rodriguez is the deputy director of a Baltimore nonprofit, People Empowered by the Struggle. He called the city’s school system “educational homicide.”
Two years ago the group organized rallies calling for Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises to step down. It cited poor test scores, plummeting graduation rates and the need for transparency.
Now there’s Project Baltimore, an effort by local media to spotlight glaring deficiencies in the system. Rodriguez noted its findings and once again called for change at the highest level.
He said, “There is no excuse. We have a system that’s just running rogue, and it starts at the top.”
Rodriguez said the issue is obviously not funding, but accountability. Baltimore schools took in a record $1.6 billion from taxpayers last year and another $799 million in COVID relief funds from Washington.
And with all that flow of cash, not one student in 13 high schools could achieve a proficient score on the state math exam.
Responding to Project Baltimore’s findings, the city system released a remarkable statement blaming past funding. “These recent increases do not diminish or patch over years of chronic underfunding that has directly contributed to our current outcomes.”
In other words, the system still needs more money.
