BALTIMORE — Tuesday they shouted their demands from Baltimore City Public Schools and now they say they are preparing to take their issue before a judge.
Multiple groups across the city say they’re filing a lawsuit after what they call ‘repeated failures’ from the 3rd largest school district in the state.
They’re allowing our children to slip the cracks and we’re not going to stand by and watch them do it.
That’s what critics of the Baltimore City Public School District tell us as they prepare to file a lawsuit against the district, one they say is going to happen sooner rather than later.
They made it clear over a megaphone in front of city hall Tuesday that they were fed up with failure and now they’re taking their complaints somewhere else.
"We tried asking nicely, we tried saying please and thank you and writing letters and social media push and all that feel on deaf ears," said Shannon Wright.
They demanded four changes from the district: the firing or resignation of Dr. Sonja Santelises, the district’s CEO, the dissolving of the current school board to turn it over to local control, the implementation of an elected school board and the introduction of academic savings accounts.
None of the four items have been put into action by the district so the groups say they plan to make their points clear in court
"The one job the school district has is to educate the children. That’s not happening. That’s not an opinion. The facts the statistics, the numbers say that’s not happening and the children are paying the price for it," said Wright.
And they say the lawsuit will be filed sooner rather than later.
"There are more than 2 allegations that are able to be substantiated and there’s a long list of folks that are going to be named."
The complaints come as 52 percent of elementary school students had at least one failing grade in the first 3 quarters of the year. And on the high school level, 41 percent of students earned below a 1.0 GPA.
Quality education for all the children in Baltimore City is non-negotiable it has to happen.
BCPS sent us this statement regarding the claims saying “City Schools respect the right of members of our community to be heard."
