Council President's Urgent Call to Address Loss of School Time Due to Inadequate Infrastructure and Facilities

Council President's Urgent Call to Address Loss of School Time Due to Inadequate Infrastructure and Facilities

"I will continue to fight for our students so they can learn in environments worthy of their promise."

BALTIMORE, MD (February 4, 2020) — Council President Brandon M. Scott released the following statement on the findings of a report conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Applied Public Research. The report found that inequitable and outdated school facilities had a significant impact on students in Baltimore City and their educations:

“According to data from the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Applied Public Research, Baltimore City public school students have lost nearly 1.5 million hours of class time in the last five years because of crumbling infrastructure and aging school buildings. This is unacceptable.

I will continue to fight for our students so they can learn in environments worthy of their promise. Last year, I called for the Mayor to purpose our city’s unanticipated $30 million surplus toward our schools’ heating and air conditioning needs. When 80% of the class hours our students are missing are due to extreme temperatures and a lack of functioning HVAC systems, we must do more and we must do so with urgency.

(Pie chart from report released by the Johns Hopkins' Center for Applied Public Research, "School conditions and educational equity in Baltimore City")

I stand with my colleagues in Annapolis in support of HB1/SB1: The Build to Learn Act, which will address some of our deeper infrastructural needs. And I will continue to advocate for educational equity across our state and within Baltimore City. A big part of that is making sure the Kirwan Commission’s recommendations are fully funded and fully implemented.

Students missing 221,000 days of school means 221,000 times our state and local government has failed to prioritize our students’ basic right to an education. It’s appalling that – in 2020 – Baltimore’s schools are shutting down because they are either too hot or too cold, or that they do not have running water or electricity. These are the same issues I dealt with as a Baltimore City public school student more than 20 years ago. Enough is enough.”

- Council President Brandon M. Scott