by Robert Schmad
Not a single student is proficient in math at 40% of Baltimore public high schools in the spring of 2023, according to state exam results obtained by Fox45.
Nearly 2,000 students took the state math exam across the 13 schools with no proficient students. Of the students who took the exam at those schools, 74.5% of them received the lowest possible score, Fox45 reported.
Baltimore City Public Schools enjoys the fourth-highest per-pupil spending in the United States. Taxpayers are spending $21,606 per Baltimore public school student in 2023, an analysis by Fox45 found.
Baltimore public schools also had the third highest administrative spending per student in 2020, Fox45 reported. The Baltimore city council in May approved more funding for teachers and administrators, WYPR reported.
Jason Rodriguez, deputy director of a Baltimore community nonprofit, likened the situation to “educational homicide,” Fox45 reported.
Part of Baltimore’s public schools’ massive cash windfall came from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislation from the Democrat-controlled state legislature, according to Fox45. The program is described on the school district’s website as “a comprehensive overhaul of education” which is “designed to close equity gaps and improve the overall quality of education in the state.”
Republican Larry Hogan, who was Maryland’s governor at the time, attempted to veto the bill. His veto was overridden by the legislature, The Washington Post reported.
Parents with students in Baltimore public schools have accused the district of fraud and corruption. Two parents sued the district in May, alleging that it had misused taxpayer funds, falsified records to get more funding and graduated failing students.
Baltimore’s public schools have been posting poor academic results for years. In 2021, one student at a Baltimore high school passed three classes in four years and achieved a GPA of 0.13, ranking near the middle of his class, Fox45 reported.
After that student’s case was reported, an internal investigation revealed that there had been a massive scheme to inflate grades at his high school, according to Fox45.
Baltimore City Public Schools did not return the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Robert Schmad is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “High School Students” by masshighered. CC BY-NC 2.0.
