Their Kids Aren't In Baltimore City Public Schools

A recent article appeared in the Baltimore City edition of The Examiner asking "Where is the outrage"?

In light of the recent ongoing episodes of school violence, I am wondering whether there are any parents left who care. Are any parents willing to rally together to help their schools, or are they resigned to the notion that they can’t make a difference?

An assault on a teacher or a photographer at school is everyone’s problem. When children no longer respect authority and teachers are no longer safe to teach, everyone suffers. Children still go to school to receive an education, right? We have a responsibility to protect both the students and — yes — the teachers from assault and abuse.

So, what can parents do? For starters, parents can volunteer and encourage other parents to do so. If a few parents do a little, it will lessen the burden on the already taxed school staff. Parents also can let their children know that safety is a basic requirement, not a luxury. Parents can unite together to keep their children safe. Parents who care, that is.

I've been saying for some time that the Baltimore City Public School system needs a core of parents who give a damn. The core doesn't have to be the majority of parents, but it has to be large enough to be not only heard, but feared. The structure of the school system makes it hard for the administration, be it at the school level or at the administration level, to fear the parents, but that fear component has to exist. Right now it doesn't exist.

And where is the outrage? Well, the parents who give a damn either have their children in the magnet schools which don't have issues or the parents don't send their children to the Baltimore public schools because the parents moved or use fake addresses to send their children to county schools.