If you are a parent, student, or communiry member and come to a board meeting with a problem, you get taken to the hall and have your problem solved. (maybe or maybe it is for appearances) If you were a teacher or other staff member, you would never dare take your problem to a board meeting.Teachers are the last to be heard and dare not state an opinion. Nevermind that many of us are Baltimore tax payers and parents of BCPS students.

Its a shame that another good organization is demeaned by misguided leadership. Barking at the school board is a waste of time and energy. Baltimore City owns the school building and the principals control their own budgets.

wise educator, you can't have it both ways.

When you approach the board as an individual like a parent or community member (however involved or close to the issue) then the response you get from the board will be similar.

What gives you a collective strength creates an individual weakness.

Post @ Algebra Project students demand a better education

Where is the support or intervention to aid the Algebra Project students from the legislative created 1979 SB795 Baltimore City School System Parent Community Advisory Board (PCAB)??? Are they functioning????

I have been to the school board twice to testify. The first time, the problem that I identified and had worked on for two years to no avail was resolved. The second issue improved. And, I did not suffer any backlash, to my knowledge.

I know that at least one of the things that was mentioned got a quick and high level response - the complaint about the food. Tony G did an investigation and found that while there was an issue it wasn't what the student had reported.

I think that people miss the point when things like this happen. The point isn't really if a student bill of rights gets passed, although it would be nice. The point, IMHO, is that kids are taking up a cause and trying to articulate needs. They are doing this in a constructive way. That their voice gets action, even if it isn't what they want in full, speaks to the power of collective action. If teachers do the same thing, dispite what W.E. might say, they would in fact get heard. I have spoke at board meetings and have in fact been heard. I spoke about an issue relating to family leave and there was, in short order, a change in policy.

My frustration with folks who think like W.E. is that instead of speaking up they would rather condemn the process and complain. This does nothing except create ill will. If the same attitude had been taken by the kids, where would they be? If this attitude is taken by those who did the bus boycotts than where would we be? Getting what we deserve isn't easy and the {powers that be" never want to give in. This doesn't mean we stop fighting. It doesn't mean we shrug our shoulders and toss in the towel. It means that we re-group and come back stronger.

Isn't this the point of what we are doing in schools?

I really want to appreciate the Algebra Project. As a mother of a little girl, i can imagine the important of better education of children. We should co-operate to school board rather complaining them. I will surely support the Algebra Project as much as possible for me.

@ j.c. - Pick your battles. There have been times when the Algebra Project has been on target and times when they are way off base. This latest protest was aimed at the wrong target.

I remember some years back I stumbled across an Algebra Project protest downtown. It was magnificent, dozens of students and orderly. I thought they had it. But then it dawned on me that the crowd would have been larger of the parents of the protesting students would have showed up to support their children. And I wondered, if they could not convince their parents of the important of their actions, how could they convince anyone else.

Maybe they should stick to their original mission and reach back and help out the troubled middle grade students.

Perhaps the schools would have money to purchase textbooks if they didn't have to pay the outrageous fees to have the Algebra Project... some schools are paying over 50K for the project... Have the Algebra grades in the city increased as a result of the project???? Anyone with some data??? Numbers please percentages are misleading!