Today a conversation about the heating crisis in Baltimore city schools. School officials blame the problem on old buildings and underfunding. Gov. Larry Hogan points to what he calls mismanagement and ineptitude. So what’s really going on, and what should be happening moving forward?
Governor Hogan also announced $2.5 million dollars in emergency aid for Baltimore schools. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh directed the Department of Public Works to pitch-in and help with emergency repairs, and she called on the business and philanthropic community to help pay for it. A student at Coppin State University, Samierra Jones, started a GoFundMe page to raise money for space heaters and coats.
In a startling article in the Baltimore Sun, Luke Broadwater reported that the City has returned nearly $66 million dollars to state coffers that had been allocated for repairs. If money is short for needed repairs, how can this be? Many people concluded that the sub-zero temperatures outside exposed sub-par performance by school officials.
Luke Broadwater reports on City Hall and local politics for the Baltimore Sun.
Frank Patinella is the co-chair of the Baltimore Education Coalition and Senior Advocate with the Education Reform Project with the ACLU of Maryland.
Shamarla McCoy is the Director of Education Policy at the nonprofit Advocates for Children and Youth. She’s also a former teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools.
They join Tom to shed some light on how we’ve gotten to this sorry place with our school infrastructure and the path to get out of it.
Tom also speaks with state Delegate Maggie McIntosh (D-43) to get her take on the heating crisis.
