Baltimore City Public School System
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| Baltimore City Public School System | |
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| Type | School district |
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| Founded | 1829 |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Key people | Anirban Basu Jerrelle Francois Brian D. Morris George M.VanHook, Sr. Kalman Hettleman James W. Campbell Hong Mei Pang, Student Comissioner |
| Website | http://www.baltimorecityschools.org |
The Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) is a public school district in the state of Maryland, United States, that serves the youth of city of Baltimore (in distinction to the county of Baltimore). The BCPSS was part of the Baltimore City Government since 1829, but became separate from the government in 1997 when the state took control of the school system.
There are several public elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools in Baltimore City. The largest school in physical size in Baltimore City is Lake Clifton Eastern High School. The district also holds the third oldest public high school in America, Baltimore City College, and the one of the most technologically advanced, Digital Harbor High School. BCPSS has been recognized as a leader in the development of a Learning Management System portal to allow access to a multitude of digital resources to enhance instruction. The Teacher Support System serves as a portal that allows each teacher and student to be able to access digitized video files, on-line encyclopedia, journals, on-line curriculum guides and course shells. The introduction of an application that allows the development of unit plans and lesson plans directly linked to the BCPSS on-line curriculum guides will happen by the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.
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[edit] Criticism
In late 2003,[1] BCPSS was discovered to be in a severe fiscal crisis, with a deficit estimated to be anywhere from $54-64 million (depending on the reporting source). As a means of reducing the gap, extensive layoffs of teachers and staff took place and new controls were enacted to ensure that spending was more closely monitored. A loan from the city temporarily ended the deficit and BCPSS paid the loan back over a two-year period. Criticism of the system still takes place with regard to the awarding of "emergency" contracts.
BCPSS is often cited as by far the most under-funded school system in the state, currently being 21st in overall spending, after falling from 4th approximately one generation ago.
From March 1, 2006 to March 4, 2006, BCPSS students from high schools across Baltimore City held a three-day student strike to oppose an imminent plan to "consolidate" many area high schools into fewer buildings. The school system claims these buildings are underutilized, but the students and other advocates counter that the only reason there is extra space in these buildings is because class sizes often are about 40 students per class. Martin J. O'Malley, then-mayor of Baltimore, apparently gave an ear to the students' demands in this latest round of strike actions, fearing it could have an impact on his status with the general public in a gubernatorial election year. However, the end of March saw a change in the balance of power, with the State of Maryland threatening to take over 11 City schools. It is as yet unknown what effect this change will have in regard to the "facilities management solutions" (school consolidations) plan the BCPSS City School Board has passed. On April 8, 2007 it was revealed by the Baltimore Sun that the Baltimore City Public School budget was full of errors.
