Several years ago, there was an exercise called Facilities Solutions during which schools were closed or slated to be closed because they were under their state rated capacity(SRC). The Poly- Western complex was considered as one building and was hovering around 50% of its SRC. This made both school ineligible for any state facilities money. The solution was to increase enrollment. The Poly freshman classes grew from 300 to 500. Western freshman classes also were increased but the Leadership Academy was placed in Western to increase utilization.

Poly went from taking the top 300 to taking the "top" 500 applicants and it was only predictable and reasonable that some would be less focused. At about the same time, the School Board established guidelines that no longer allowed the selective schools to send students back to their zoned high schools for academic reasons. Along came Fair Student Funding under which each student came with dollars attached so school are even less likely to kick a student out.

The growth of charters such as Bluford Drew Jemison(STEM) and Leadership (STEM) which are getting to their students in middle school, could be used as a solution. So the question may not be want should selective high school do to get their incoming freshman ready but should they follow the charter school model, create their own middle schools and grow their own?

If anything, schools should tighten their entrance requirements. Students in middle school need to learn skills that will enable them to be successful in high school. To be successful in high school, they need study skills and time management skills. Poly has a summer program for incoming students that includes this information but the students should already have those skills before they even get to high school. More needs to be done at the middle school level. And before anyone asks...yes, I have taught at the middle school and the high school levels.

There are a lot of issues to be investigated at City and Poly, but I'm pretty disappointed at how little investigation there was done in this article. One parent at each school and a single administrator of a separate program (Ingenuity) at Poly (which has an admission test so it's a different issue for them than the majority of kids) and a single student from Poly plus a North Ave. upper muckety- muck, and you think that tells a complete story? And the statistics are so thin. The number of kids passing the AP tests without mentioning the fact that 100% of City School students take the AP tests while who know what percentage take the test at County schools? The number of college graduates after 6 years is interesting, but how about a factor for how many had financial issues as opposed to academic issues? And this vague "much worse" than other systems? How about hard numbers?

Look, I'm the last parent to say there are no problems in City Schools - read my blog for some nearly constant complaints - but this article strikes me as Fox News material. It's sensationalist and gets the masses riled up (read the online comments if you want to make yourself puke), but where's the meat? How about hard questions? It's not really all that black and white. Raising the student population and some poor/unengaged teachers. A sense that if you want your kid to be safe they have to go to Poly/City/Western, regardless of their interest in IB or engineering. A lack of long term support for college as well as a crumbling economy for blue collar parents.

Lots of meaty subjects - sadly none investigated in this story.

As a 2004 graduate of Poly, I understand the challenges that the teachers and administrators face. Given the range of quality of middle and K-8 schools in Baltimore city, the incoming freshman at Poly and other magnet programs in the city have a very wide range of ability and skills. One of the challenges is that these schools are not staffed with the right teachers to help students through the transition. While Poly always attracts high quality teachers, especially from its own alumni, many teachers seek a position at a school like Poly to escape the more challenging behavior climates at the city's comprehensive high schools. From my experience at Poly, it was also clear that the less skilled teachers where given the freshman classes. While I understand not wanting your less skilled staff teaching AP classes or seniors, freshman year is when students learn about how to be a high school student. Schools need to make sure that students appreciate the level of rigor need to succeed and must provide students with supports to help students with the increased challenges. In my opinion, this requires having your most skilled teachers teaching the freshman classes.

My freshman year Poly piloted a summer freshman success academy to help students learn about academic skills need for high school. I don't know if they continued that program, but that is the kind of program that Poly and City need to have and make attendance mandatory for all students. Poly and City can't change the entire system, but they need to make sure that there are multiple supports are available for students who have not been prepared for the challenge of a rigorous high school program.

The educational issues start in
elementary school and only continue to grow and the gap widens as the student continues through to High School.
Once an elementary teacher, I found it shocking that so little time is spent on science and history due to emphasis on reading and math.

However, those core subjects were not even being taught well nor explained well to the students nor retaught if most of the class did not reach an 80% success rate on the skill.

The school just continues to pass the students along regardless of their skill level. Something needs to be put into place at the young levels to assist the slower learners. I also believe that the length of the school day in elementary school should be slightly increased to allow for more in depth learning at an early age.

Middle school students do need to be held up to a higher standard. Students starting as young as in fourth grade need to be held responsible for their school supplies daily and their homework done as well. The students need to be taught to be organized and record their homework in an agenda daily.

These changes will never be effective if the entire school district takes on the same philosophy and expectations of the students.

Once the students reach high school, many times it is more difficult to reach them and/ or change bad habits or lack of. It is difficult for them to then have respect for teachers and follow their rules and suggestions if for all the years they have been in school no one enforced the basics school expectations with them. Also, over all, the basic skills of how to study, take notes, and a basic work ethic needs to be instilled in our young.

If they do not have these basic skills and beliefs, then it makes it almost impossible for success and learning to occur.