The bloom has been off for some time at these schools. While there are "bright" children, there are others that have been moving into the population that have not been as successful as before, and would never have made it/been retained in years before. Western, for example, had to take an incoming 9th grade class two years ago that has generally struggled-- with academic and discipline issues.

Poly has also had issues too. Recently they canceled their senior assembly for the second time in three years, and throughout the week they struggled to maintain order. Teachers cars were vandalized, and they had a large number of windows broken out.

Let's get real. The Big Three have always had an "in" in terms of students. While I agree that they should have the right to remove students who are continuously unsuccessful, putting them out after one semester of their freshman year is a joke. The students then feel as though they can coast at their zone school because they got admitted to a magnet program. These schools also have a disproportionately lower number of special education students even if the student might otherwise qualify to go there. I understand the concept of "school history" but, in a modern world, students from all over the city deserve first crack at these schools if they meet the entrance requirements. No wonder these schools get such high marks--get rid of the problems and no special education. Of course, their test scores are high. They are competing for a smaller and smaller pool of students also; why should they get more breaks? If the student was good enough to get in, he/she could be good enough to stay.

I teach in the County but live in the City. I have no complaints about keeping City schools for City residents.

However, there is some cause for concern in Dr. Alonso's plan. How much documentation is required? How many interventions? You need to be realistic about teacher time,paperwork, and record keeping.

Having taught in a magnet program, the reality is that a few students who enter these schools will not be academically prepared for the work or will decide that they do not like the school. Parents often force students to stay at schools like this in spite of low performance, which diverts resources to the bottom of the academic pool. Insuring success is one thing, but dragging a prestigious magnet program down is quite another.

Being a teacher at Poly, the problem is not academics - it is behavior.

It is not about prestige, it is about maintaining the high quality that make parents want to send their children to these schools.

Yes everything should be done to aid students who are struggling, but the ability to put a student out is a tool that administrators need when dealing with behavioral and academic issues. Take that away and these schools become nothing more than zone schools.

This is a tough issue, and one that I hope Dr. Alonso seriously ponders over the summer when the magnet schools present him with a few students who have (a) failed every course; (b) stopped attending school; or (c) presented huge discipline issues that hindered every other student's education. Yes, trying to re-assign nearly 100 students is obviously a problem. But the magnet schools would be greatly improved if only 20 or so students left.

In addition, I wonder about the policy "changing." In the past, magnet schools always had to present intervention strategies with the students. That may have gone by the wayside during the interim years between Dr. Russo and Dr. Alonso, or during the budget crisis, or perhaps during the changeover of principalships at the magnet schools. But it's been done; in 2000-2005 or so, we had to document all our interventions at magnet schools, and still several students were re-assigned (often good kids, too - one thing that's important to note is that, often, these students make the neighborhood schools they go to better). I want Dr. Alonso to present a clear vision for re-assignment - what is the exact policy? If a student has failed every course in the 9th grade and has no chance of getting a diploma unless he or she goes to a school that allows repeat credits, can he or she be transferred if enough intervention strategies (and our school has several mentoring programs, including several tutoring programs, required Coach Classes, twilight credit recovery, etc) have been documented? Who makes the final decision?

This is a big issue, because simply the possibility of re-assignment can be a big motivation factor for students. If students see so-and-so, who skipped most classes in the basement and got zeroes and in-school suspension all year, return to the school, they will see that there is no accountability at all. And never underestimate the value of a fresh start for young people. This student will be much better served by going to a different school next year.

I agree there needs to be something that is centralized, but I'm not satisfied with the vague message about re-assignment that Dr. Alonso has presented, nor have I heard enough about what he feels the function of a magnet school should be. One can see from the falling (and falling-off the list altogether) Newsweek ratings that the city's magnet schools have all gone downhill in recent years - what is Dr. Alonso going to do about the growing gang problems in these schools, the falling academic standards, the increasing class sizes? To make the entire system better, you have to make all the schools better, and not bring the best ones down in the process.

Two last quick notes:

1. The word coming in the magnet schools from administration is that no more re-assignments can happen at all. This seems to be against what the article reports, so there is some miscommunication going on.

2. The latest word from administration is that Dr. Alonso feels that unless class sizes can be reduced to 18 or 19 per class, then it makes no sense to attempt to reduce class sizes at all. I'm not sure what research he is citing, but, as a teacher, there is a big different between 35 in a class and 18 or 19. Research can be maneuvered in a lot of ways, and I hope that Dr. Alonso isn't really saying that because we probably can't get below 20, we probably shouldn't try at all...

Again, this could both be miscommunication, but I would feel a lot better if I heard someting clearer from Dr. Alonso on these issues.

Good-bye Meritocracy!

Say good-bye to meritocracy in Baltimore. Mr. Alonso seems to care more about politics than having the best schools attended by the best students. Giving some students an edge just because of geography smells of sheer political favoritism. His new non-merit-based policy only creates weak links in a chain in such dire need of strengthening, making it harder for our publicly educated students to compete with privately educated ones. Mr. Alonso ought to focus on the schools that do NOT do well instead of trying to fix the schools that do work.

I tried to enter my daughter into Poly or Western because she could walk. Without testing or any further contact I was notified that she would have to catch a bus to attend another school. I have decided to home school rather than subject her to that. So I am paying taxes for a school system that couldnt even help my daughter.

All the potential in the world means nothing if you don't care enough to use it.
By the time someone is 15 or 16 years old, it is ridiculous to think that a teacher should have to fight with them every day about doing their best in school. They need to see the consequences of their actions, rather than have their failure blamed on the teacher for not trying hard enough.

This is one move by Alonso I'm not sure I agree with. The magnet schools are overcrowded, and dealing with students who don't belong there. In order to be truly great, the teachers need reasonable course loads and students need to know that they have to perform to stay.

This policy is rough for me. I'm generally a staunch supporter of Dr. Alonso, but I can't seem to get on either side of this decision. I am one of the kids that tested in from the county (my zoned school is Pikesville,) and I could not have seen myself happy anywhere else but at City. It makes me sad to see that now I wouldn't get the chance to go, but I understand that there was probably someone just as eager to go whose spot I took.

I agree with one of the comments posted after the article: it's not as much about failing students as it is about students who pull down others that are trying to learn. The kid in my grade that threw a desk at a teacher's head last year ought to have been kicked out when he failed three classes the year before. I don't think that the girl in my freshman English who showed up to two classes during the semester deserved to stay in school. There are some people that try hard but slip through the cracks (often because of tough situations at home), and I think that those people City should hold on to. However, the ones that make instruction difficult for everyone else are the ones that don't deserve to be in a place that's supposed to be about the pursuit of higher knowledge.

Also, often "intervention" in terms of trying to save failing students comes in the form of administrators forcing teachers to say "let's ignore the fact that you missed 35 out of 40 classes, and the fact that others did that same work and are also failing. If you turn X-important paper in, and then two 2 of these assignments, I'll pass you."

I understand what Alonso is trying to do: it's honorable to think that City should feel responsible for each of its admitted freshman, but it won't continue to excel if it's responsible for accommodating students whose lack of motivation brings down the spirit of the school.

I don't think that the girl in my freshman English who showed up to two classes during the semester deserved to stay in school. There are some people that try hard but slip through the cracks (often because of tough situations at home), and I think that those people City should hold on to.

This is a good observation, because, based on the commenter's story, I think I was in fact his 9th grade English teacher. The student in question absolutely deserved to fail, and she ended up being put out of the school after her 9th grade year because she never went to any classes. She went back to her neighborhood school and worked hard during her 10th grade year, and was re-admitted to City as an 11th grader. It ended up being a good thing for her to have to earn her way back, to learn some self-discipline and accountability. Holding students responsible isn't something that's shameful; it's an integral part of growing up, something we hope all students get at our schools. I wish Dr. Alonso was clearer about wanting this, as well.

Sara Neufeld's article - which, unfortunately, did not have any quotations from teachers or students involved in the situation, and was muddied by the totally separate issue of city/county enrollment - emphasized the word "struggle," as if the magnet schools send students out because of academic struggles. In my experience as a teacher in a magnet school, this doesn't happen. Students who are put out - and the practice of putting out has been nearly non-existent for three years - are put out because they don't come to school or class, or because they are constant behavior problems (violent fire-setters, or involved in gang activity). It's not about struggling academically; it's about whether the student, frankly, wants to be at the school. There are about 5-10 students per grade level that really bring the academic environment down, and these are the students who should be re-assigned.

The DEFINITION of a magnet school is that it has specialized requirements that need to be met for admission and to REMAIN at the school.

Magnet schools have ALWAYS been required to provide evidence of interventions to assist struggling students -- these are not new requirements. They are currently unclear, but not new.

Let magnet schools be magnet schools or else close them, but no more of this hypocrisy where magnet schools aren't allowed (or trusted) to hold to their own magnet standards.

But it's not just magnet schools: zoned schools aren't even allowed to enforce real academic or behavioral standards! If that happened and standards were enforced, BCPSS schools would be 75% EMPTY!

Believe me: no one is advocating "giving up" on students -- but "creative interventions" and extra, extra help needs to go hand in hand with real consequences and enforcement of standards. Then maybe students would respect us, and the interventions would MEAN something and might work better!!!

Misbehavior increases and grades begin to fall when this kind of hypocrisy flourishes -- students realize that a school isn't allowed to "walk its talk." That's what is wrong with the city in general: rules are hardly ever enforced (or only when infractions begin showing up on YouTube or The Today Show).
As a result, the students try to get away with as much as they can, and they treat teachers and administrators like a joke because students know that rules will hardly ever be enforced.

It's a vicious cycle that some superintendent needs to have the courage to end: stand up for the school system and demand the funding that the state owes us (so we can provide a REAL education that won't fail these failing students), and enforce the rules and academic expectations that are in place. Don't let a BCPSS diploma be worth less than the paper it's printed on...

I don't think I understand the motivation for making this change. Aren't schools already punished if they lose students as their funding is determined by the number of students they have? And if one of these students is "advanced" they are losing even more money. And the zoned schools that take these students back would get additional money. So who is objecting to transferring out these students? The parents? But the rules to remain in magnet programs (good grades, good attendance, good behavior) are made pretty clear on entry to the program. It seems to me that these schools are one of the few successes in BCPSS. Why would you want to change that?

Echoing many of the comments here, there is clearly a need in this city for programs that enforce the highest possible standards. On this, there should be no compromise. The best students should be with best, and much should be demanded of them.

The basic problem, as I see it, is that there are no adequate 2nd or 3rd tier options. If a student can't make the grade at an "elite" school, there should be an alternative competitive option. As it stands, the only option is for kids to go back to their neighborhood schools, which is really no option at all.

As a parent, I don't care so much about the name. What I want is for my child to be challenged at the appropriate level. And to be safe. I don't care so much about City/Poly/Western. What I care about is that my kid gets academically challenged in a safe, gang-free environment.

High schools MUST have the unchallenged option to expel students for behavioral reasons. There should be other systems to accomodate students with behavioral problems. Actually, it is probably the FAMILY that has problems, not the student, so Baltimore really needs to develop alternative schools that involve the whole family.

As an alum, I care about City. While I'm troubled by the experiences referenced by the current student at City, I'm not surprised. When I was attending, the students who were having behavior issues tended to be the ones getting the worst grades, often because of behavior issues. And that speaks to the idea of potential.

Potential is great, but when you don't live up to that potential because you're too busy throwing desks and skipping classes, you should have to go. If you have potential, but would rather start fights and fires, you should get out, just like the girl mentioned above, and come back if and when you can prove that you deserve to be there. Or just go to another school.

One does not HAVE to go to City, Poly, Western, or Dunbar. That may sound like a callous thing to say, given the current state of many BCPSS schools, but it is true. And it was just as true when I was a student. If one can't be brought to care enough about their own life to take advantage of what they have in attending one of these schools, what exactly are teachers supposed to do? How many other students who want to perform well have to be brought down all in the name of "saving" the few that don't?

Or if one can't make the grades to stay in the school, they should go. These aren't schools that are supposed to be right for everybody. These are supposed to be schools that not everybody can get into and remain in. That's not inherently bad, either. The schools shouldn't be forced to work with everybody that comes in the door, if they really can't or don't want to handle it. Like the commenter says above, create viable next-tier alternatives. Put standards in place for those schools as well. Make good behaviour mandatory systemwide.

I promise that the more BCPSS instills the entitlement mentality into their students, the worse it's going to be when they finally get the harsh reality that the colleges and universities won't just work with you because you came in the door. I can't think of any college that would have professors giving you multiple interventions if you don't act right. They just won't.

It's all up to the students and that can be a hard lesson to learn if you haven't yet. Many schools will offer counseling and peer/tutor help to assist you, but in the end, it is all the student's responsibility. It's better to let students understand that this is the world they live in now; students in all BCPSS schools, should, in my opinion. And that's just the academic world.

What has made the elite citywide schools successful is students who had the potential and wanted a certain level of excellence and schools ready to offer it, not students who had to be coaxed and cajoled into it by the schools. It used to be a privilege to attend a citywide school. Now, it seems that it won't be treated as such. That's unfortunate. Again, if these students know that the rules aren't enforced, they're not going to respect the opportunity that they have.

To make BCPSS schools better, improve them, but don't drag down the best schools you have now to do it.

Oh, and keep letting in qualified County students whose parents want to pay tuition, before their lesser qualified City counterparts. Is every single dollar used to fund all of our citywide schools coming from Baltimore City taxpayers? Let these lesser qualified students do a year at another school and prove they deserve it, just like the student mentioned above.

I am a BCPSS teacher and a City alum. As a few others have referenced, it is all about instilling an entitlement mentality in the students.

It is sad to say but the theme of Dr. Alonso's adminstration seems to be if something is not right with the students, it is everyone else's fault and we need to do better. He sounds more and more like a politician (just one that loves the children) everyday.

I have no problem bending over backwards when students are in elementary school where they have less direct responsibility for themselves. However, at the high school level, much of the behavior is unexcusible. Yet that is all that is done, excuses are constantly made for the students and their families.

Just because they may have been victimized at some point in their lives does not mean that we should treat them like victims. Perpetual victims are perpetually dependent on others to do for them.

The "real world" will not say, 'Awe, you had lead poisoning, here are extra job interventions. Awe, your father abandoned your family, its ok for you to terrorize your neighborhood, what can we do for you?'

At some point we have got to instill self-efficacy back into these students. Life is not politically correct and everyone will not get to the same place or level as others. Likewise, some people don't qualify for magnet schools or they might not be able to make the grade. Yes help to some extent but MUCH of the responsibility is on the student and their families, particularly at the high school level. Poor behavior should not be tolerated at these schools because there is always someone else who would appreciate it that can take that place.

Enough with babying entire generations! The past 40 years of feeling sorry for and giving things has not proven to be true empowerment. We are carrying entire generations of people. Yes support but don't carry them. They will never learn to care for themselves and be productive citizens with excuse making and lack of follow through for poor behavior. You even see this type of entitlement mentality in colleges where now parents want parent teacher conferences and are calling professors because their children are unhappy.

When will we learn that making people feel entitled with no consequences does not make them work harder.

It is not about race or class because you see it with blacks and whites, you see it with the rich and poor.

This is a conversation we need to have. Although Mr. Alonso's has good intentions, chances are his policies may ending up hurting the system even more (as hard as that sounds).

City College '08, you nailed that one. If only the general public as well as the Baltimore Suns' editorial writers knew about the interventions and "reality on the ground," maybe we can have an honest conversation.

Chris, you talk about the entitlement mentality BCPSS is promoting. I don't know why anyone, especially Mr. Alonso should be shocked when they look at the how students perform once they go on to college. We can inflate their grades, but eventually the truth will come out.

I have spoken to former students and they are horrified at the current state of the system. As Chris points out, it should ultimately be up to students. Unfortunately, the system has now shifted the burden toward teachers and the school. There is no sense of personal responsibility. Until our leaders accept this, there will be no progress.

I see the terms "personal responsibility" and "efficacy" being used consistently in all of these posts. And the concepts are necessary for success. However, who is going to pay attention to this discussion? The answer is--NO ONE! At least, no one who counts when it comes to funding, staffing or making real changes in the system. We can pontificate forever but until someone is willing to "tell it like it is" we are going to be fighting these same battles for the next twenty years. Hurray for those students and teachers at the Big Three who hold to standards but let the rest of us try to hold students accountable and see what happens. A good example is how many seniors will be doing "projects" over the next week so that they can graduate with their class and not be left behind. What a joke! Set standards and then allow them to be enforced from elementary school on and see what improvements will happen. Then a diploma from BCPSS will actually be worth something in the "real" world.

ConcernedCitizen, you're touching on something that I think needs saying. We do a great job of painting a rosy picture of City College to the media. We take our reporters to our best classes and give them our best students. It's necessarily driven from an effort to conceal bad things about our school; but more so because any City student/alum can tell you that we have an immense pride in our alma mater. But the flip side of that coin is that I think Dr. Alonzo has the idea that City is a well-oiled sunshine machine. It's not. Maybe I can shed a little more light in that regard after I graduate on Saturday.

We have problem students--students that don't just abstain from participating in the classroom, but ones that actively try to hinder others' learning. In some ways, if we represent that students that have the best chance of furthering ourselves in the academic realm, I feel that we should have more freedom to remove students that try to bring others down. It's not like we're trying to kick out every student that ever received lower than a 60--oftentimes we fight to get rid of students who have careers of disciplinary trouble.

What I'm seeing here in this thread is the inevitable, and very sad conclusion that I've come across every time my teachers and I discuss how we're going to make this City better: overhaul the whole system and start fresh. Is it possible? I don't think so; perhaps Dr. Alonzo can make it happen. The other inevitable solution for both me and my teachers who decide to move on are the five sorry words: "it's not my problem anymore..."

That said, here's a couple good solutions that people have told me or I've thought up myself:

1) Better admissions standards. Raise the importance of standardized testing in order to negate the amount of grade inflation in middle schools. Require a writing sample and a clean discipline record for the last two years of middle school.

2) Make a longer summer bridge program to make sure that students start 9th grade at citywide schools on as equal footing as possible.

3) Perhaps have some sort of other optional pre-high school summer program for students whose parents feel that they need even more help to get on the right track.

4) Mark remedial credits on transcripts for what they are rather than replacing regular grades, so that colleges can see that an 80% in Summer School History is not on the same par as a 42% in IB History of the Americas. Alternatively, allocate funds to create a special remedial credit program for City/Poly/Western so that remedial credit actually means something.

I just read Gregory Kane's column, everyone should check it out.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-md.kane28may28002018,0,2493399.column

Thank goodness for Gregory Kane. He correctly points out that the thrust of Alonso's directives is to remove all responsiblity from the students and place it with the teachers and administration.
Are there any intervention plans for failing superindents?

Are we forgetting that magnet schools are still public schools funded by the same taxpayer money that funds the zone schools? Of course it needs to be easier for magnet schools to move out academic and behavioral problems, but they also need to be held accountable for actually providing some sort of interventions before dumping the kids on the zone school. And it's NOT just about academic interventions. Zone schools are responsible for addressing behavioral issues, so why can't magnet schools be held to the same expectations?

I agree Joan. I think that this is a starting point. For years, "outsiders" have believed that students were performing poorly because of teacher non performance. The world, thanks in part to YouTube and other things, is beginning to see that everything is not at the hands of the teacher.

We hear about failing public schools but all public schools are not failing. It is mostly the ones in areas and systems that have high poverty and high rates of students who are the beneficiaries of entitlement programs that seem to lack success.

In almost all the cases blame has to be placed at the feet of parents and central administration who coddle students and convince them and their parents that everything is someone else's fault.

Yes some teachers need to be replaced or retired but the vast majority of us care and work our behinds off but are treated like losers while given lipservice about how great and important we are. As long as it is politically incorrect to blame the "victim" we will never make progress. Look at Bill Cosby, he tells the truth about the need for black people to look within and improve, not wait for the government or white people and he is treated like a traitor. (Not that it should matter but for the record I am black)

1. At these "elite" schools we have a minimum grade of 50 for each quarter and the students need to end the year with a 60 to get credit for the class. If the student is able to get one quarter with an 80 or above he/she will pass for the year. It doesn't get any easier; and yet we the teachers are being asked again to offer interventions. I had a sophomore in my class that failed every single class as a freshman. Maybe this was the wrong placement for him.
2. Alums you now have students receiving diplomas while failing 4,5, 6, and yes even all 7 classes in their senior year. How is this a magnet??
3. There was a report earlier this year that only 30% of these "elite" students are graduating college in five or fewer years. Isn't this a truer indication of how far we have fallen. These students that are being passed along to increase graduation statistics or to appease parents are not successful once they leave. How are these kids going to help the city out when they return without degrees and saddled with loan debt that they cannot afford.
4. We need to stop the bleeding now, educational research has shown that the students will rise to the level of the expectations. We can do better at these elite schools. Raise the bar and hold on tight. it will be hard at first but the payoff will be a better Baltimore for all.

City College '08, I encourage you to take an active role and express your views. You have good ideas. Once people hear about the "interventions" administrators tout, they are shocked and horrified.

Unfortunately, some people have ulterior motives--they are more concerned with their image and advancing their careers instead of actually helping students. We need to actually listen to students and encourage them to speak out.

I am a teacher at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School and let me just say that there is little to no learning going on whatsoever. In fact, there has been little to no learning going on the entire school year.

The reason is that the few students who display horrible behavior have taken over the school. They have not been held accountable at any point during this school year. They have been allowed to remain in the building to create total chaos.

The majority of students that initially came to school in August, ready to learn, have learned only one thing: that they can do whatever it is they want to do. They can curse, fight, vandalize, steal, set fires, let off drano bombs, etc. They can curse at teachers, assault teachers, and generally be completely insubordinate without any consequence at all.

Any diploma received this year (or in the past few years for that matter) is not worth the paper it's printed on unless that diploma states that the students are now prepared to begin a career in crime.

The bottom line is that the students who consistently display horrible behavior need to be removed. This doesn't just go for magnet schools either. I thought that every student had the right to learn but it seems to me that every student has the right to hinder the learning of others.

CityCollege08, from an alumnus to a soon-to-be alumnus, congratulations, and you have put forth some great ideas. I entirely agree with your #1 idea entirely.

I don't know if you remember, but years ago, there was a summer program at City to help students who were "on the bubble" to get special early preparation. It wasn't optional, though, and I support the re-establishment of that program (if indeed, it doesn't exist still).

Again, congrats, and I hope you come back and speak up more on this issue after Saturday.

A counselor, I think it's because we need to treat citywide attendance purely as a privilege. Baltimore City is required to offer education. That doesn't mean it must come from one of the citywides.

yet another teacher, this business of students receiving diplomas after failing all those classes is nothing short of a disgrace. In my day, we couldn't even receive a grade lower than 70 to receive credit. Where have all the standards gone?