FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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ROCKVILLE, MD (June 10, 2022) — The Maryland Public Policy Institute applauds Gov. Larry Hogan for referring his administration’s recent audit of grade-changing practices in the Baltimore City School system to state and federal prosecutors.

Maryland Public Policy Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Summers issued the following statement in response to the governor’s announcement:

It is refreshing to see accountability for Baltimore City Schools on the horizon. For years, we at the Maryland Public Policy Institute have researched the district’s unscrupulous actions, deceitful budgeting, and miserable academic achievement and have repeatedly called for action.

Given the district’s recent ghost student scandal, its grade-changing scandal, and its continuing decline in academic outcomes, it is about time that those administrators responsible for the district’s failures face consequences. We now should all hope that state and federal prosecutors take action and succeed in upholding the law. Parents demand and students deserve nothing less.  

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the per-pupil expenditure for BCPS schools during fiscal year 2019 was $15,888, or 11^th-highest among the nation’s 100-largest school districts. Despite this high funding level, an astounding 63 percent of middle- and high-school students were failing at least one class during the 2020-21 school year, and fewer than 10 percent of BCPS students in grades 3, 4, and 5 scored “proficient” on reading and English/language arts exams.

To learn more about BCPS student performance since the pandemic began, please read the Maryland Public Policy Institute's latest study: Baltimore City's K-12 Education Crisis.
 

The Maryland Public Policy Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization that focuses on state policy issues. The Institute’s mission is to formulate and promote public policies at all levels of government based on principles of free enterprise, limited government, and civil society. Learn more at mdpolicy.org.

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