Today, I wrote a story about principal pay in the city, which I was surprised to find was below the average for the state, and that of the other large, surrounding districts. The story accompanied a database The Sun has published of all school system employees, which we've also done for every state, city, and Baltimore County school system employees.

The jist of the story is that in the last four years, principals' pay have not caught up to their ever-expanding responsibilities in the city school system. While the story didn't appear to get nearly as much attention as the database, principals have written in that they are surprised by the disparity.

But school system and union leaders have acknowledged that principals--who under immense pressure in the city--are underpaid, and point to the new administrators union contract as a remedy to reward and retain the best leaders, who arguably have one of the hardest jobs in the state.

Posted by Erica Green at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

Today, The Sun published a database with the salary and overtime for every school system employee--by name and job title--dating back to 2008.  It's part of a series of databases that we will be compiling on public employee pay in the city. So far, we have published the same information for Baltimore City government, and the Baltimore County School System.

More school districts will join the bunch in the coming months.

However, the Baltimore City school system salaries that you see only tell part of the story about how much system employees make--particularly administrators at North Avenue, whose salaries can shift more than school-based personnel.

I feel compelled to offer a glimpse into a rather tortured journey to transparency in obtaining this information--and why the public still doesn't really know what they're paying the stewards of the city's public education system, and the $1.3 billion budget it takes to run it.

The journey began when The Sun requested the school system's salaries--normally, the most basic public information request you can make, and the most readily available--on Nov. 16. 

Continue reading "Why we still don't know the real story about Baltimore City school system salaries " »

Posted by Erica Green at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (69)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

Updated on February 1: 

A new member has been appointed to the Baltimore city school board, after two searches have taken place in the last year to find someone to replace Anirban Basu, the renowned economist who served as the business-minded board member since 2005.

Marnell Cooper, a Baltimore attorney, will be sworn in Feb. 14. According to his Charles Street law firm's website, Cooper specializes in representing small businesses locally and internationally. 

Updated: I caught up with Cooper on Tuesday, who said that it "is a tremendous honor to be able to serve in this capacity." 

"What I hope to bring to the board is my experience as a person who has been a part of, and a graduate of the school system, and matriculated through two universities to go on to do business around the world. Hopefully I can bring that insight into how to help the students of Baltimore.”

Cooper, who doesn't have children in the city school system, said that he hopes to build on the efforts of the system. He said that he has, however, received feedback from the community about the state of city schools, which he described as, "extremely positive in terms of what they see as growth over the course of years."

As an international attorney, said that he takes particularly interest in strengthening and expanding International Baccalaureate programs, an elite and globally recognized college preparatory program, currently offered at City College and Mount Washington Elementary.

When asked to identify some school system challenges he hopes to help tackle, Cooper said, "I haven't started serving yet, but I know there are some challenges coming up.”

Continue reading "Updated: Local attorney hopes to bring international perspective to city school board" »

Posted by Erica Green at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

Updated: Tisha Edwards, Alonso's chief of staff who traveled to East Baton Rouge last week to interview as a finalist for the parish's superintendent seat, withdrew her name from the running, according to a story published this week in Baton Rouge's newspaper, The Advocate.

Edwards, the mother of a city school graduate and a current student, said Wednesday that she chose to withdraw her name so that her son can finish his middle school education in Baltimore.

Edwards was one of six semi-finalists for the seat, and took part in a public interview before the East Baton Rouge school board on Jan. 23. The EBR parish has held an unusually public search for a new superintendent, devoting an entire website to the search, and posting interviews on You Tube.

You can watch Edwards' interview, during which she is questioned for two hours, and discusses everything from her leadership style, to her efforts and accomplishments in the city, and the reforms she was hoping to bring to the struggling school system.

Continue reading "Updated: Alonso's chief of staff withdraws name from superintendent search" »

Posted by Erica Green at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

Here's a great story on the decision by one Pennsylvania school to ban the wearing of Uggs, or high top boots, that aren't snug. Students were coming to school with their cell phones hidden in their boots. Cell phones weren't allowed in this school. How many schools out there still don't allow students to bring cell phones to school, or discipline students who bring them to class? Would teachers like to tell stories about inventive teens who manage to hide cell phones so they can text during class?

Posted by Liz Bowie at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Around the Region
        

Baltimore city is used to some radical ideas when it comes to keeping kids in school--a trademark of city schools CEO Andres Alonso--but there is one that I wanted to put out there for debate's sake.

In his State of the Union address last week, President Barack Obama said that his administration would encourage states to raise the compulsory age of attendance to prevent kids from dropping out of school. Under the proposal, children would be require to attend school until the age of 18.

In Maryland, there's been a longstanding attempt to address truancy and dropout rates by raising the compulsory age of attendance, a measure that seems to have always failed due to its financial cost (because the human one is priceless, many would argue).

Still, the issue makes the city school system's legislative wish-list every year, and schools chief Alonso said Monday that he still maintains that, "it makes no sense to tell a kid they can't vote or drive a car but we let them drop out of school."

Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, a Baltimore Democrat who has repeatedly sponsored legislation to raise the state's compulsory age, a cause she plans to continue championing, said Monday she was "really pleased to see the President call on states to take care of our children. We ought to be doing everything we can to keep our students in school."

Continue reading "City school, political leaders endorse Obama dropout plan " »

Posted by Erica Green at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

The state board took the first steps yesterday to propose a significant change in the way school districts discipline students. They want schools to stop suspending students for non-violent offenses. So the student who comes to school with alcohol or talks back or cheats would not be suspended. One administrator suggested that if a student painted a swastika on the classroom window of a Jewish teacher, that teacher might see it as violence. But Jane Sundius of the Open Socity Institute noted that perhaps that was a great example of why out of school suspensions don't work. If the student is sent home for a day, he learns nothing about the Holocaust, and nothing about why that teacher might be angry or hurt. But if the student has to spend a Saturday at the Holocaust museum, perhaps he learns just how offensive his behavior really is. Many school teachers and administrators will disagree with the new suspension proposals. Some of them have already been expressing their views at the bottom of the story on the website. I would like to hear a debate on the blog about the pros and cons of this proposal. In particular, I would like to hear from teachers who were in the classroom before Columbine and before zero tolerance policies. How often were students sent home for more than a day and what were the most serious non-violent infractions? Did assistant principals and principals find other ways to discipline students? Did students write letters to their teacher when they were disrespectful? Did they stay after school? I would also like to hear from private school teachers. Are 8 percent of students in private schools suspended every year?

Posted by Liz Bowie at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Around the Region
        

Updated on Monday, Jan. 30: One of the biggest questions that emerged from Alonso's recent pitch to allow the school system to borrow billions for school construction, was whether or not Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was on board.

I thought I'd share this story from Friday, when Alonso and the mayor went to talk budgetary matters in Annapolis, where our State House Reporter Michael Dresser asked whether she was on board with the plan.

The mayor, who rolled out a proposal in November that would see a 140% increase in what the City is currently contributing to school construction and renovation, said Friday that the city and the school system were still "ironing out details," on how to fund the massive overhaul of the school system's infrastructure. She added, however, that, "we have the same mutual goal in mind."

According to the story, the mayor remained noncommittal to Alonso's plan to borrow $1.3 billion--six times more the district's borrowing authority-- for the needed improvements. And it's not surprising, since it's a plan that relies on paying off debt with more debt.

And according to the story, the mayor, who has outlined a more limited plan to float $300 million in bonds backed by new city revenues, would not say how close the city and school system are to reaching common ground on an approach.

"It depends on the day of the week it is. Some days we're closer than others," Rawlings-Blake said.

Asked whether Alonso had gone public with his plan too soon when he outlined it Tuesday for the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, the mayor sidestepped the question.

"Dr. Alonso is aggressive when it comes to reforming the school system," she said. "I am not going to second-guess his strategy.

You can read our editorial board's take on Alonso's strategy by clicking here. 

Continue reading "Updated: Alonso's billion-dollar borrowing pitch " »

Posted by Erica Green at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

From Howard schools reporter Joe Burris:

The Howard County board of education on Tuesday briefed the County Council on possible redistricting plans for the 2013-2014 school year, which include forming a 12-member attendance area committee to advise the superintendent.

The school system outlined the plans at its quarterly meeting with the County Council.

Continue reading "Howard school board outlines possible redistricting plans" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Howard County
        

Howard County public schools faculty were among several educators awarded funding to launch projects through the county’s nonprofit Bright Minds education foundation, school officials have announced.

Award recipients included Jamie Proctor of Wilde Lake High School, who won $2,000 for the project “STEM for Inquiry Based Learning,” and Ann Strozyk of the Howard County Conservancy, who won $2,000 for the project “Next Steps with GPS.”

Continue reading "Bright Minds Foundation Awards Grants" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Howard County
        

From our colleague Michael Dresser on the Maryland Politics blog:

When interim Maryland State School Superintendent Bernard J. Sadusky made a presentation before two House of Delegates committee Friday, he spelled out certain principles for flexibility under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Alas, the folks at the Maryland State Department of Education showed a certain flexibility in spelling  "principle" as well. Time for a trip to the principal's office?

See the photo of the presentation here

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Around the Region
        

Tonight, Baltimore County held the first of three open forums to allow the public to comment on the characteristics they would like to see in the next superintendent. Joe A. Hairston is retiring in June after 12 years as superintendent. Consultants from the search firm were there to listen, but no education officials were there. The public comments were allowed to be confidential, although no one seemed to mind being quoted. Only a dozen or so people showed up, but they represented many different groups. In general, they said they believed there were many great teachers in the system, but that they wanted changes. Several individuals said they wanted an open minded, compassionate, ethical superintendent who was a "people person" and who would have courage to try new things and stand up to elected officials.

A number of parents, including Julie Sugar, the president of the PTA at Loch Raven High School, and parent Laurie Taylor Mitchell, said they wanted a superintendent who would address the lack of air-conditioning and other facilities issues that have plagued the system for decades because of its aging buildings. They said they want a superintendent who will stand up for what schools need during budget time rather than submitting a budget that is acceptable to the county executive.

Continue reading "Public forum for new superintendent search " »

Posted by Liz Bowie at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Renee Foose, the deputy superintendent for Baltimore County Schools, has applied for the superintendent's job in Orange County, Florida, the tenth largest district in the nation. Foose's name is one of 21 applicants the Orange County Public Schools have made public. The list will be narrowed to semi-finalists by the end of the month. A county school spokeswoman said the interviews with finalists would be conducted in February.

Foose is a former Montgomery County school official who was hired by Baltimore County last April at a salary of $214,000.

Posted by Liz Bowie at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

From schools reporter Joe Burris:

A group of parents, teachers, staff and students from Edgewater Elementary School on Thursday night implored Anne Arundel school officials to prioritize improvements to the school’s aging structure, which they say is wrought with health concerns.

The school board held the second of two public hearings on Thursday night for Superintendent Kevin Maxwell’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget. But public testimony was dominated by the group of about 50 people from the Edgewater community, whose school – which was first occupied in 1953 and has had renovations in 1964 and 1985 – isn’t up for a feasibility study and design for renovations until Fiscal Year 2016.

Most members of the group stood and held signs that read, “Got Bad Air?” and “Got Mold,” as other members took turns telling board members about how children at the school have suffered from respiratory-related ailments.

“Edgewater has continually remained silent on these issues, and we decided that it was time to band together and see if we can make a difference,” said Jenny Corkill, president of the Edgewater Elementary PTA.

Continue reading "Edgewater elementary parents say building needs improvements" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Anne Arundel
        

From schools reporter Joe Burris:

Howard County school board member Allen Dyer this week requested that the state office of administrative hearings dismiss an attempt by his fellow board members to oust him from the panel, the second time he has filed such a dismissal since the board requested last year that the state board of education remove him.

The Howard school board voted to adopt a resolution requesting Dyer’s removal last June, accusing him of, among other things, breaching confidentiality requirements.

Continue reading "Dyer attempts to have board's removal request dismissed" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Howard County
        

We report in a story today that seven counties in Maryland are not meeting their share of the burden to fund public schools, according to preliminary state figures. Anne Arundel and Talbot counties are two jurisdictins that dispute whether they are complying with a law that says a local jurisdiction's per pupil funding cannot decrease from one year to the next. Legislative leaders and county government leaders are calling on a change in the current law during this legislative session. 

Posted by Liz Bowie at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Around the Region
        

The Howard County board of education has officially accepted the 20.2-acre site on the Northeast Route 1 corridor in Hanover to build a school, officials said on Tuesday. The Oxford Square property can serve as a site for either an elementary school or a middle school, officials said.

The acquisition culminates efforts to secure land to build a new school in the Northeast portion of the county, efforts that have been hampered by, among other things, concerns about proximity to an MBTA station and concerns over a proposed CSX rail cargo transfer station.

In October, the board officially approved the property as the site for new middle school, but staff is considering whether to request the board’s approval to use the site as an elementary school.

Continue reading "Howard officials accept school site" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Howard County
        

A group of state education officials said Tuesday that a state-mandated education spending requirement for counties needs to be revamped to prevent local jurisdictions from underfunding education by $2.6 billion.

Officials from the Maryland State Education Association, Maryland Association of Boards of Education and the Montgomery County Education Association outlined efforts to request that the General Assembly make changes to the so-called maintenance of effort requirement that mandates counties fund school systems at the same per-pupil amount for the upcoming year as they did the current year.

The group that met at the State Education Association office in Annapolis on Tuesday said that the current maintenance of effort requirement it so “broken” and “weak” that it is being circumvented by local jurisdictions. They said in a prepared statement that if the General Assembly does not fix the law during the upcoming session the state runs the risk of “opening the door to $2.6 billion in local education cuts.”

Continue reading "Officials say maintenance of effort needs to be revamped" »

Posted by Jennifer Badie at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Region
        

In a front-page story today, The New York Times reported on a new study that shows the long-term effects of good teachers on students, academically and economically. The study tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years, observing the impact of teachers who had significantly raised their students' test scores.

The study, authored by Harvard and Columbia University educators and titled "The long-term impact of teachers: Teacher value-added and student outcomes in adulthood" furthers the controversial debate about how valuable value-added teaching ratings are.

The key finding, according to the Times, is that "elementary- and middle-school teachers who help raise their students’ standardized-test scores seem to have a wide-ranging, lasting positive effect on those students’ lives beyond academics, including lower teenage-pregnancy rates and greater college matriculation and adult earnings."

I would encourage all to read the story, here. 

Posted by Erica Green at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Around the Nation
        

As reported by my colleague Liz Bowie: Baltimore County reported the highest suspension rate of any Maryland district apart from the Eastern Shore in the last school year, despite its efforts to focus on discipline that doesn't require students to miss classroom time.

About 10,000 students were suspended — or about one in every 10 — a rate that exceeds Baltimore City, where suspensions have been significantly reduced under CEO Andrés Alonso. The county is also noting disproportionate numbers of African American and special education students, which experts said county officials said was incredibly problematic. 

Note: However, after years of declines the city school system's suspension rates rose last year as a result of an uptick of attacks on students and teachers, as well as insubordination. There's also been a debate about the crackdown on suspensions in the city, as teachers say that students and sometimes even parents have been rather opportunistic in using the the policy against educators.

As Liz's story pointed out: "The issue has prompted fierce debate — among education advocates and at school board meetings. Proponents defend suspensions as a time-honored and effective punishment, while opponents point to recent research showing that suspended students are at higher risk for dropping out, repeating a grade and entering the criminal justice system."

So, what do you make of the county's suspension trends? Is the county heading down a road that requires the same uproar that the city endured years ago?

Continue reading "What to make of Baltimore County's rising suspensions? " »

Posted by Erica Green at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

A Baltimore city jury ruled Thursday, that they should not.

But that has not stopped the debate about whether the defense that held up in court--the parents of a bullied special needs student didn't document every interaction and complaint to their schools--holds up in public opinion.

A four-day-trial ended Thursday, with a city jury deciding that the principal of Hazelwood Elementary and the former principal of Glenmount Elementary school were not negligent in addressing the chronic bullying of a special needs student, who suffered behavioral issues as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

Edmund and Shawna Sullivan, the parents of the boy, brought a $1.3 million lawsuit against the school system--though every count against the system as a whole was thrown out--that ended up leaving the principals on the line for negligence and gross negligence.

The principals admitted that they were made aware by the Sullivans of several incidents at the schools.The principal of Hazelwood admitted that there may even have been a report of the boy and his sister "being beaten and robbed.

And while jurors believe that bullying took place, they said there wasn't enough evidence that their inaction led to the roughly $35,000 in physical and emotional damage (in addition to the damage you can quantify), because the parents hadn't documented with formal bullying forms and complaints to the school. Jurors also said the Sullivans were lacking consistent recounts of names, dates, and times. 

However, outside of the legal considerations, jurors also said that they took into consideration the fact that their decision could essentially declare open season on school systems and principals across the country.

In our story today, the president of the city's principal union said the season has already begun. 

But, in a district that is built around principal autonomy and accountability, who should be held responsible for the damage that is caused from a school yard rite of passage that, if unaddressed, can land children in mental institutions and educators in turmoil?

If not, who should? 

Posted by Erica Green at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

The older sister of the special needs student whose alleged bullying has landed the school system in court, closed out the third day of a jury trial in which a family is seeking $1.3 million in damages after they say school system principals ignored their complaints. You can read the recent coverage of the trial, which began last Thursday, here and here.

The parents, Shawna and Edmund Sullivan, are suing the system on behalf of their two kids who attended Hazelwood and Glenmount elementary schools in the 2008-2010 school years.

The 14-year-old girl, who the Sun is not naming, attended fifth grade at Hazelwood Elementary school in 2008-2009, where she said her belongings were urinated on, she and her brother were jumped by a group of students for their lunch money, and targeted for racial harassment. She also testified late Monday that after she found her brother unconscious outside of school one morning, the school's principal said "he was perfectly fine."

The girl described how she watched her brother, who suffers from disabilities stemming from a brain injury, slowly grow more and more depressed after he was repeatedly attacked by students.

"He became more depressed because he thought he did something bad to make everybody hate him," the girl told jurors. "I told him he didn't, and that the kids at that school were just really, really mean."

Continue reading "Bullied student, experts testify in third day of city schools bullying trial" »

Posted by Erica Green at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Baltimore City
        

The Baltimore County school board is asking for the public to comment on what characteristics are most important in a new superintendent. The school board is hoping to hire a new leader for the district by next spring to replace outgoing superintendent Joe A. Hairston. 

 The first attempt to gather public comment is through an online survey on the school district's website. The survey is located on the lower right hand side of the home page and asks questions that are essentially the same whether you are a teacher, parent or administrator. 
The survey will be available on the website for several weeks.

Posted by Liz Bowie at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore County
        

Not long ago, Maryland had the money to offer one and two week summer programs around the state to gifted and talented students. These students, who have often been passed over in the rush to help low achieving kids, could learn about the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge, jazz music in Baltimore or history at St. Mary's City. From Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore, the state helped subsidize more than a dozen programs that allowed high achieving students to stretch their minds in the arts, sciences, and humanites.

But budget cuts shut down most of the programs several years ago, leaving only 10 available. Today, though, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has pledged to give $725,000 over three years to provide scholarships to 100 students to attend the programs at no cost. The money will allow bright students in high poverty areas who often get the opportunity to attend enrichment programs.

The summer centers are open to all gifted and talented students in the state.

Posted by Liz Bowie at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Around the Region