Baltimore City Public Schools
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| Type | School district |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1829 |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Key people | Dr. Andrès Alonso, CEO Jonathan Brice Jerrelle Francois Brian D. Morris George M.VanHook, Sr. Kalman Hettleman James W. Campbell |
| Website | baltimorecityschools.org |
The Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) is a public school district in the state of Maryland, United States, that serves the youth in the city of Baltimore (in distinction to the county of Baltimore). Its headquarters are the Dr. Alice G. Pinderhughes Administration Building.[1]
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[edit] History
The BCPSS was part of the Baltimore City Government since 1829, but became separate from the government in 1997 when partial control was ceded to the state in exchange for increased funding. Now, the mayor and the governor jointly appoint the school board that oversees the system[2]. The school system is currently run by CEO Dr. Andres Alonso appointed by the school board in the summer of 2007, Dr. Alonso officially began work on July 1, 2007. Dr. Alonso comes from the New York City Department of Education, where he served as deputy chancellor to the current chancellor Joel I. Klein[3].
The BCPSS was desegregated in 1954 following the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Board of Education. Limited desegregation had already happened with the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute being forced to admit African-American students on its prestigious "A" course in 1952, as none of the black schools in Baltimore offered an equal or equivalent course.[4][5]
There are several public elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools in Baltimore City. The largest school in physical size in Baltimore City is Lake Clifton Eastern High School. The district also holds the third oldest public high school in America, Baltimore City College; and the oldest all girl public high school, Western High School.
[edit] Criticism and recent developments
In late 2003,[6] BCPSS was discovered to be in a severe fiscal crisis, with a deficit estimated to be anywhere from $54–64 million (depending on the reporting source). As a means of reducing the gap, extensive layoffs of teachers and staff took place and new controls were enacted to ensure that spending was more closely monitored. A loan from the city temporarily ended the deficit and BCPSS paid the loan back over a two-year period. Criticism of the system still takes place with regard to the awarding of "emergency" contracts.
BCPSS is often cited as by far the most under-funded school system in the state, currently being 21st in overall spending, after falling from 4th approximately one generation ago. (This lacks a reference.) In the 2009-2010 school year there were approximately 82,866 in the entire school system (non-charter and charter)[7]. The projected operating budget for the 2011 school year is $1.23 Billion ,[8]. This leads to an average expenditure of over $14,800 per student.
From March 1, 2006 to March 4, 2006, BCPSS students from high schools across Baltimore City held a three-day student strike to oppose an imminent plan to "consolidate" many area high schools into fewer buildings. The school system asserted that these buildings are underutilized. The students and other advocates assert that the reason there extra space exists in these buildings is because class sizes often are about 40 students per class. Martin J. O'Malley, then-mayor of Baltimore, apparently gave an ear to the students' demands in this latest round of strike actions, fearing it could have an impact on his status with the general public in a gubernatorial election year. The end of March saw a change in the balance of power, with the State of Maryland threatening to take over 11 City schools.
On April 8, 2007 the Baltimore Sun's Sara Neufeld stated in an article that the Baltimore City Public School budget was full of errors.
A recent poll conducted by the Baltimore Sun and Annapolis pollster OpinionWorks July 8–10, 2007 recently revealed Baltimore citizens grim opinion of the system. Asked to grade the Baltimore public schools, 2 percent of respondents gave the system an A; 10 percent gave it a B; 32 percent chose C; 22 percent D; and 20 percent Fail, with 15 percent unsure. If the system were assigned a mean grade-point average based on the poll, it would be a 1.45, the equivalent of about a D-plus"[2].
A December 2010 article in the New York Times characterizes the school system as having improved under the leadership of Dr. Alonso.[9]
[edit] Schools in the BCPSS
[edit] References
- ^ "Finding Information." (Archive) Baltimore City Public Schools. Retrieved on April 9, 2011. "Dr. Alice G. Pinderhughes Administration Building 200 E. North Avenue, Baltimore MD, 21202 "
- ^ a b Neufeld, Sara (July 2007). "Schools average grade of D-plus". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930035550/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.schools18jul18,0,551088.story. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ^ Neufeld, Sara (July 2007). "Beginning of the Alonzo era". Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.ci.alonso16jul16,0,3180577.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines. Retrieved 2007-07-26.[dead link]
- ^ Templeton, Furman L. (Winter, 1954). ""The Admission of Negro Boys to the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute "A" Course,"". The Journal of Negro Education (Journal of Negro Education) 23 (1.): 29.. doi:10.2307/2293243. JSTOR 2293243.
- ^ Crockett, Sandra. "Breaking The Color Barrier At Poly In 1952". Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD..
- ^ "Baltimore schools coverage". Baltimore Sun. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-cityschools,0,6459588.storygallery?coll=bal-home-headlines. Retrieved 2007-07-26. "Archived information on the city system's planned closures, the proposed state takeovers and past financial problems."
- ^ "Students Overview". NAPCS Dashboard. http://dashboard.publiccharters.org/dashboard/students/page/overview/district/MD-2/year/2010. Retrieved 2011-07-05. "."
- ^ "Baltimore schools coverage". Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-04-14/news/bs-ci-school-budget-20100414_1_school-system-billion-budget-board. Retrieved 2011-07-05. "Archived City school board adopts $1.23 billion budget."
- ^ Tavernise, Sabrina (2010-12-01). "Baltimore Schools, a Mission for Andres Alonso". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/education/02baltimore.html?scp=1&sq=baltimore&st=cse. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
[edit] Further reading
- "The Learning", documentary film about teachers from the Philippines brought in from overseas to be employed in the Baltimore school system
- Tancinco, Lourdes Santos, "Hundreds of Filipino teachers in Maryland face uncertainties", Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2011
[edit] External links
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