Ahead of November’s election, young people in Baltimore City have a few key issues in mind, like education and job opportunities, community safety and public transportation. And they want their voices heard.
The Baltimore News Collaborative — an effort by local newsrooms including WYPR to cover youth issues — sent out an election survey to young Baltimoreans that garnered nearly 200 responses. Just over half of the respondents said they understand how government officials affect their well-being. Around 48% said they are motivated to vote in the upcoming election.
But very few local politicians showed up to a youth-led town hall hosted by Morgan State University student Keniera Wagstaff on Saturday, despite receiving invitations. Wagstaff said she planned the event to connect young people to leaders directly to ask their burning questions.
“I want everyone to look around the room; it looks a little empty,” Wagstaff said to the small crowd. “But guess what? That don’t matter. The room may be empty, but your voices are heard.”
Baltimore City school commissioner Mujahid Muhammad praised the college students and teenage attendees for being the ones to show up.
“You took the opportunity to come out today, and you are pouring not only into yourself, but into everyone else,” he said.
Board chair Ronald McFadden joined Muhammad for a panel on education, where they both fielded questions on safety and academic achievement.
“As a school leader, I'm in a school every single day, and I sit in a seat and I say to myself all the time, ‘Am I going to make a decision that perpetuates the school to prison pipeline?’” McFadden said. “The leadership of our individual schools and our school system matters to make sure that we are not looking at things from a disciplinary lens all the time.”
Last week, the city board of commissioners voted to extend the contract for current CEO Sonja Santelises through June 2026. McFadden was one of three members to vote against the extra year.
Muhammad stressed the importance of parents ensuring their children get to school every single day.
“Circumstances do not change responsibility,” he said. “Just because you cannot afford to eat, it does not mean that you are not responsible for getting your children to school every day. Attendance is a must.”
McFadden added that parents need to also advocate for their children once they get in the classroom. And schools need high-quality teachers and responsive leaders to meet those parent demands.
“What is dangerous is our children not being able to read,” McFadden said. “Because what we do know is that as our children have the ability to read, that creates knowledge. Knowledge is power. Power determines money, and money changes the trajectory for our young people. It is critically important that families are involved.”
McFadden also said that in his experience, students’ struggles with math aren’t mainly about the numbers.
“They don't understand what they're reading about the math,” he said. “They're getting caught up in the word problems.”
Less than 5% of Baltimore middle schoolers who are Black, disabled, multilingual or low-income passed last year’s standardized math tests. But the city did see gains in proficiency that largely outpaced the rest of the state.
