Posted on 04/29/2015 3:32:39 AM PDT by markomalley
"The education system has failed them."
That is part of the explanation that Billy Murphy, a lawyer representing the family of Freddie Gray — who died after his spine was severed while in police custody — gave CNN's Wolf Blitzer for why some young men in Baltimore rioted on Monday afternoon after Gray's funeral.
"These kids have had bad experiences in school," Murphy said.
"They are frequently harassed by the police," he said. "They are unemployed because there's no summer jobs, and so this is what you would expect in a tense time like this. That's not a justification, though, because what they're doing is wrong, and we need to stop them. And those of us who are more mature in Baltimore, black and white together, we need to have a demonstration that shows them the right way to do it, rather than permitting them to go without leadership, the way that they're going now."
He is right.
And one way to start moving things back in the right direction is to give every parent in Baltimore a voucher worth $17,329 that they can redeem at any school — public, private or religious — to which they choose to send their child.
Why $17,329?
Actually, it probably should be a bit more than that. But, according to the U.S. Department of Education, $17,329 is the total expenditure that the Baltimore City Public Schools made per student in the 2010-2011 school year, the latest year for which the Department of Education has reported this data. ($17,329 in 2011 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator, equals about $18,083 in 2015 dollars.)
What did parents and taxpayers get in return for that $17,329 when it was spent by the public schools?
Well, judging by National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, most of the students did not get a good education.
In 2013, according to the Department of Education, only 16 percent of the eighth graders in the Baltimore City Public Schools scored at or above grade-level proficient in the NAEP reading test. That same year, only 13 percent of the eighth graders in the Baltimore City Public Schools scored at or above grade-level proficient in math.
According to the Department of Education, eighth graders in the Baltimore City Public Schools had average NAEP math and reading scores that were lower than the national public school averages, lower than the Maryland averages, and lower than the averages for the nation's large cities.
The Baltimore City Public Schools are not failing for lack of money or personnel.
In the 2012-2013 school year, according to the Department of Education, the city's schools enrolled 84,747 students. But they also employed approximately 5,380 classroom teachers — meaning they had a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.75 students per teacher.
In addition to the 5,380 classroom teachers, the Baltimore City Public Schools also employed 1,690 "instructional aides," 422 "school administrators," 482 "district administrators," approximately 508 "school administrative support" personnel, approximately 628 "student support services" personnel, approximately 116 "guidance counselors," approximately 86 "librarians" and "media specialists," 75 "instructional coordinators and supervisors," and approximately 1,150 workers providing "other support services."
In total, the Baltimore City Public Schools had about 10,165 teachers and other staff on the payroll in the 2012-2013 school year — or about 1 for every 8.3 students enrolled in the schools.
In the 2010-2011 school year, according to the Department of Education, the Baltimore City Public Schools had $1,441,019,000 in revenue — with 62 percent coming from the state government, 19 percent coming from the federal government and 19 percent coming from local government.
The schools turned around and spent a total of $1,452,189,000.
Despite this, the kids in the Baltimore public schools got a bad deal. They deserve better.
Give them a choice. Give every parent or guardian of every student eligible to attend the Baltimore City Public Schools a voucher worth the same amount those schools spend per student. Let them redeem it at any school anywhere, public, private or religious.
If that means churches and other private organizations — and groups of parents — in and around Baltimore begin starting up their own schools to educate local children according to their own values, then that may mean schools that produce better test scores and schools that produce better citizens.
If asked this question repeatedly over the years:
Where are the black leaders?
They have blood on their hands. They are responsible for the fact that their people are more ignorant and less employable today than they were (collectively, individual exceptions noted) in 1964.
Shame on them.
Democrats have fought charter schools every step of the way in Michigan despite their obvious success in Detroit. All but the most indifferent of parents are lining up to get their kids in.
Of course you know it’s not COOL to be an educated person.
And you HAVE to bee COOL
Where are the black leaders?
And, where are the black FATHERS?
Yep. They be actin’ white.
And send them where?
The black kids don’t have jobs because the Mexicans took them all!
The government answer for anything....GIVE THEM MORE MONEY!
You could give these kids $100,000,000 dollars and they still would not learn anything!
Learning begins at home with a MOTHER and FATHER. Next comes discipline. After that, the learning of responsibility.
The most amazing thing is that those moral factors are absolutely FREE!
Throwing money at the problem is simply crony capitalism since every penny of that wasted money goes into someone else’s pocket, who in turn will vote for more money.
Elect this women Mayor? Since missing dad isn’t there to keep his son(s) in line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiEWqRmBSb8
No vouchers. Once you accept a voucher, you are a government school
“And you HAVE to bee COOL.”
Yes, above all else you have to be cool.
That’s roughly the amount my wife and I spent on FOUR years of private school at a very good institution for our son. About 90% of the senior class received scholarships the year he graduated (including our son) and that was only five years ago.
Most private schools have requirements for accepting students. There are entrance exams, interviews, and some even require references. Will these requirements be waived for students with vouchers? I have had experience with a private school accepting students that were admitted under “scholarship” programs. These students didn’t conform to dress code, didn’t do homework, and were disruptive in class. Within two years parents who were paying thousands of dollars in tuition took their children out of the school and a few years later the school closed. This school had been operating for over 50 years and its closing was a loss to the community. I for one do not support vouchers. People never appreciate something they don’t have to work for.
Pipe dream. Asians at those same schools do just fine. It’s the student’s attitude that decides the quality of his education, period.
Well said and bears repeating.
School is pointless with no parents. Black wives matter.
“That’s roughly the amount my wife and I spent on FOUR years of private school at a very good institution for our son. “
I just checked on current tuition for some of the archdiocese schools in Baltimore:
St Mary HS , Annapolis, $13,630
Notre Dame, Towson, $17,700
OL Mt Carmel, Baltimore, $12,500
ABP Curley, Baltimore, $13,450
Mt DeSales, Catonsville, $13,400
Mt St Joseph, $14,100
I have been fighting them in my child’s school.
The view presented is “See what a great witness we could be!” It is really about “See how much state money we can get!”
But my bride teaches in a public school. The school board wants vouchers because then they will send all the troubled kids to the private schools.
We have many minority and poor kids in my daughter’s school. They are there because their parent or parents have made great sacrifices to get them there, and have high expectations of those children. They hold the children accountable.
In my bride’s public school, the only person held accountable is the teachers.
Notre Dame in Towson is an independent Catholic school not affiliated with the archdiocese.
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