"You are not here begging. You are not here for a handout.
You are here for what you deserve." -Dr. Sonja Santelises
More than 2,000 students, parents, teachers, advocates and community members converged on Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis last Thursday for the Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) #FixtheGap Rally.
Our demand? That Governor Hogan, Mayor Pugh, and the Maryland General Assembly work together to close Baltimore City Schools' $130 million structural budget deficit for the '17-'18 school year, and sustain that funding until such time as the funding formula can be improved.
The
ACLU's Frank Patinella, who also serves as one of the co-chairs of BEC, highlighted the state's cut to the education funding formula in 2008 and how it has led to City Schools' $130 million structure deficit. "The state's constitution guarantees an adequate education for city students," said Patinella. "By the state's own measure, funding falls short $290 million."
Highlights of the rally include Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Santelises, 2017 Maryland Teacher of the Year Sia Kriakakos, and Highlandtown Elementary School principal Nancy Fagan who each
spoke passionately about the need for
additional city and state funding to ensure that city students receive an excellent education.
Brayan and Katherine Banegas, siblings who came to Baltimore from Honduras and attend Commodore John Rodgers School spoke about the value of their
EOSL teachers.
President of the PTA Council of Baltimore City Deb Demery led a group of parents on the stage, who described how the proposed budged cuts will affect their families.
Mayor Pugh also took the podium, telling the crowd, "I will not let our school system down." A
s she promised during her speech, she stood by state lawmakers during a press conference yesterday to commit
to work with Governor Hogan to fix the gap.
No Funding Plan Yet From Governor and Mayor
Yesterday, Mayor Pugh and state lawmakers announced that they are working on a funding plan but no details were provided. A spokesman for Governor Hogan also said that he is going to continue the dialogue with City Schools and the city delegation to find a solution. While the ACLU is encouraged by this collaboration, school communities across the city are in a state of crisis now and time is of the essence. City principals submitted their budgets yesterday, which reveal deep cuts to teachers citywide and ballooning class sizes.
The ACLU will continue to work with the Baltimore Education Coalition and allies to ensure that the Mayor and Governor provide additional funding to fix the city school system's $130 million gap expeditiously.
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