Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS), also referred to as Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) or City Schools, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, w ...

in the city of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It serves the youth of Baltimore City (in distinction to the separate and "younger" public school system (district) for the surrounding separate county of Baltimore, known as the

Baltimore County Public Schools Baltimore County Public Schools is the school district in charge of all public schools in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is the 25th largest school system in the US as of 2013. The school system is managed by the Board of Education, ...

CoPS. Traditionally however, the Baltimore City Public Schools system has usually never referred to itself as a "district," as the operation of the schools was synonymous with the city of Baltimore. Its headquarters are located on 200 East North Avenue at North Calvert Street in the Dr. Alice G. Pinderhughes Administration Building.Finding Information
" () Baltimore City Public Schools. Retrieved April 9, 2011. "Dr. Alice G. Pinderhughes Administration Building 200 E. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21202 " The local school district that is situated within a county-equivalent level area of an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

. In 2012, it is currently the fourth largest school system in Maryland. In the 2014–15 school year, the student enrollment is approximately 84,000 students. It also maintains 1 pre-k/kindergarten school, 54

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s, 75

K-8 school K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * AMD K8, the internal designation for the ...

s, 7

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

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secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

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high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s, 1 K-12 school, and 7 alternative programs.

History

City Schools was part of the Baltimore City Government since 1829, but became separate from the government in 1997 when partial control by the "Superintendent of Public Instruction" and the "Board of School Commissioners" was ceded to the State of Maryland in exchange for increased funding and an "expanded partnership". Now, the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

solely appoints the revamped "Board of School Commissioners" ("School Board") that oversees the BCPS system, and which in turn interviews and hires the "C.E.O." ("Chief Executive Officer") and "C.A.O." ("Chief Academic Officer"). The school system is currently run by CEO Sonja Santelises.

Desegregation

City Schools were desegregated in 1954 following the ruling of the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in Brown v. Board of Education. Limited desegregation had already happened with the

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, colloquially referred to as BPI, Poly, and The Institute, is a U.S. public high school founded in 1883. Established as an all-male manual trade / vocational school by the Baltimore City Council and the Balti ...

being forced to admit African-American students on its prestigious "A" course in 1952, as none of the black schools in Baltimore offered an equal or equivalent course.

High schools

High schools that have been well known include: Baltimore School for the Arts, a public high school that is nationally recognized for its success in preparing students for the arts;

Carver Vocational-Technical High School Carver Vocational-Technical High School – fully George Washington Carver Vocational-Technical High School – also known as Carver Vo-Tech, is a public vocational-technical high school located in the western part of Baltimore, Maryland, United ...

, the first African-American vocational high school and center established in the state of Maryland; Digital Harbor High School, one of the only secondary schools that emphasizes in information technology; Frederick Douglass High School, the second oldest African-American High School in the United States.;

Lake Clifton Eastern High School Lake Clifton Eastern High School (LCEHS) was a public high school closed in 2003, located in the Clifton Park area of northeast Baltimore, Maryland. Originally called Lake Clifton High School (LCHS), although it was commonly known as Lake High Sc ...

; the largest school campus of physical size in Baltimore City;

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

, the third oldest public high school in the country; Western High School, the oldest public all-girls high school in the nation; and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a public high school ranked 36th in STEM in the country in 2019 by ''Newsweek'' that shares the second-oldest high school football rivalry with Baltimore City College.

Criticism and recent developments

In late 2003, City Schools 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 City Schools paid the loan back over a two-year period. Criticism of the system still takes place with regard to the awarding of "emergency" contracts. In 2011, Baltimore City Public Schools had the second-highest per student cost among the nation's 100 largest school districts according to the U.S. Census Bureau, spending $15,483 per student per year. In the 2010–11 school year there were approximately 83,634 in the entire school system (non-charter and charter). The projected operating budget for the 2011 school year is $1.23 billion. This suggests that the per student spending including charter schools is $14,707. From March 1, 2006 to March 4, 2006, City Schools 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 asserted that these buildings are underutilized. The students and other advocates assert that the reason the extra space exists 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 affect his status with the general public in a gubernatorial election year. The end of March saw a change in the balance of power, with the State of Maryland threatening to take over 11 City schools. On April 8, 2007 ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

s Sara Neufeld stated in an article that the Baltimore City Public School budget was full of errors. A recent poll conducted by ''The Baltimore Sun'' and Annapolis pollster OpinionWorks July 8–10, 2007 recently revealed Baltimore citizens grim opinion of the system. Asked to grade the Baltimore public schools, 2 percent of respondents gave the system an A; 10 percent gave it a B; 32 percent chose C; 22 percent D; and 20 percent Fail, with 15 percent unsure. If the system were assigned a mean grade-point average based on the poll, it would be a 1.45, the equivalent of about a D-plus". A December 2010 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' characterizes the school system as having improved under the leadership of Dr. Alonso. A March 2012 article in ''The Baltimore Sun'' illustrates how the budget is not being carefully monitored. The severe budget cuts led to a thin staff working overtime, leading to high overtime wage earnings. Along with this, Dr. Andres Alonso's driver earned double his salary in overtime, making his pay last year higher than Governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...

's. On November 27, 2012, Dr. Andres Alonso announced a 10-Year Plan which, pending approval of the School Board, will lead to the closing of four elementary/middle schools following the 2012–2013 school year, as well as the closing of thirteen additional schools over the next five years. The plan also includes proposals for renovating and relocating the schools not being affected by closures.

References

External links