I think it was a bad move to say that Charters are a threat. They should have just said no.... I also thought asking Alonso to be on the Archdiocese Task Force was foolish, even with it's good PR.

Catholic Schools have nothing to fear from the publics if they stay true to their Catholic Identity. Where we have lost ground is when we try to be just like the public schools and forget that Christ is the reason for a Catholic School, He is an ever present teacher and a model for all.

I hope that Baltimore Catholic Schools return to being a Christ centered organization rather than enrollment driven "Schools". The enrollment will come when we have the right schools.

I think it was a bad move to say that Charters are a threat. They should have just said no.... I also thought asking Alonso to be on the Archdiocese Task Force was foolish, even with it's good PR.

Catholic Schools have nothing to fear from the publics if they stay true to their Catholic Identity. Where we have lost ground is when we try to be just like the public schools and forget that Christ is the reason for a Catholic School, He is an ever present teacher and a model for all.

I hope that Baltimore Catholic Schools return to being a Christ centered organization rather than enrollment driven "Schools". The enrollment will come when we have the right schools.

The AOB is doing the absolute right thing. In a city with declining population, how many schools are needed? BCPSS should make that an impact statement a requirement for charter applications. These things are popping up like weeds and everybody knows dandelions may look good for a moment but they will eventually destroy your lawn.

I hope this shows the reality of the situation. Parochial and public schools are not in some sort of partnership or cooperative relationship. Public schools, and especially successful public schools, compete with parochial schools. They compete for students, for money, and philosophical support. If you are sending your children and money to a catholic school, you will go to their community outreach events. You will lobby in Annapolis for support for catholic schools. You can say that you also care about public schools, but you will know that public schools are for other people's kids, kids that will always be set apart from your children s and their classmates.

I know OverTheTop sees this as a victory in a battle to suppress charter schools. I guess it goes along with the saying "an enemy of my enemy is my friend." I see charter schools and mainstream public schools as having much more in common than any school that charges tuition.

@ AP Here one for you - "The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer." - Nehru

Transpose please

Oh goody, I love a puzzle.

Answer/guess #1 – “The forces in a bureaucratic establishment, if left without visibility and guaranteed as a monopolistic solution, tend to stop evolving and lead to uninspired and failing school systems as well as fleeing families and students of all who have the means to flee.” I admit it’s not as catchy as Nehru’s quote and not as universally applicable.

Let me try again. Answer/guess #2 – “A bureaucratic establishment, if left unchecked by external visibility or choice selection, tends to grind to an evolutionary halt with results that are subpar to systems with equal resources.” That’s a little better, but it misses the concept of buy-in, emotional support and empowerment.

I don't think I can come up with a really good one sentence answer. Maybe I shouldn't go into writing propaganda for a living.

Let's try another - paraphrasing Adam Smith, the guru of capitalism

"...every ENTERPRISE necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society(PROFIT) as great as IT can. IT generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor CARES IF IT is promoting it. By preferring the support of THE GOVERNMENT to that of PRIVATE industry, IT intends only ITS own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, ..."

Now you've lost me. As far as I know, there are no for profit charter schools in Baltimore. There are schools founded by parents, schools founded by teachers and schools founded by administrators. There are schools that are affiliated with national organizations (like KIPP), but I think these are non-profit organizations. I think there are some private operator innovation schools, but these are pretty much ancient history.

One must always remember that "non-profit" does not necessarily mean non-income generating. Think of the constant attention paid to compensation at United Way.

So these non-profits that are spring up to provide guidance and direction to "parents" do produce income. That income is generated from tax dollars, education tax dollars. The Md Charter School Network is a non-profit that charges interest groups to educate about and guide them through the process. It does this at the same time it is advocating for more charters and less rules on their operation.

The foundation that oversee some of the charters such as KIPP, Leadership School and a few others have demanded longer contracts so that they can access private money to acquire property.

But this is about the AOB releasing its buildings and I just had another thought.

Does anyone know how many closed school building are currently in Baltimore? I drive by three long closed BCPSS school every morning and know of their are others.. I will start #1 - the Old Western High School on North Ave. #2 -old Douglas High on Baker Street, #3 - the repurposed PS#13 on Druid Park Drive, #4- Closed school on Cold Spring Lane near Garrison and #5 Winston Elementary/Middle School.

Can anyone add to this list?

I

We have way more building capacity than we need in City Schools. They can't maintain what they have now, we should be shrinking our footprint but instead we keep expanding. The population in the City is on a decline and the fake enrollment numbers won't be around that much longer.

I thought the State mandated some buildings be closed and sold off. What happened? Is the State Board frighted to take on AAA too?