On Thursday night, people filled the
auditorium at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute to participate in the Kirwan
Commission forum. The auditorium was full of energy, people waving yellow
papers that stated #fixtheforumla, and a group of people in matching shirts
with “Yes!” and “No!” signs. The 25 members of the Kirwan Commission sat ready
to hear from the people of Baltimore City.
How did we get here?
In 2002, The
Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act created a school aid formula in
Maryland. This gave each school system a, “per pupil amount—which was $6,860 in
fiscal year 2015—is [was] then adjusted for every local jurisdiction depending
on its property value and income levels…counties with less wealth (and
therefore less ability to cover educational costs) receive a greater share of
state aid” (“Thornton Plan,” 2016). Additionally, “school systems receive supplemental
aid” for children based on backgrounds of poverty, limited English proficiency,
and special education services (“Thornton Plan,” 2016).
Now, in the fall of 2017, the Kirwan Commission (named after
the chair of the commission, Dr. Kirwan) is tasked with revisiting this formula
and providing the General Assembly of Maryland with recommendations. The
members of the commission conducted forums across the state to hear from
concerned citizens. For more information on the Kirwan Commission, see the
links to the articles in the reference section of this post.
I left the forum thinking about a few things:
The people who
spoke at the forum shared a wide-range of perspectives and offered different ideas on the biggest problems in our public education system in
Baltimore. Each speaker spoke from his or her sphere of influence
about specific concerns. People shared concerns about class sizes, access to
SAT prep and AP courses, teacher preparation and retention, the burden of taxes
to the citizens of Baltimore, and the need for more counselors and social
workers. I was struck with the complexity of the problems shared at the forum
and immense task upon the shoulders of the Kirwan Commission.
Then I heard the Kirwan Commission would give its
recommendations by the end of 2017. I had just watched as leaders from Baltimore City
pleaded with the commission to hear their concerns and possible solutions. The
members of the commission sat quietly without responding. The forum was held on
October the 12th, and the commission is going to provide their
recommendations by the end of 2017? I believe a timeline to hear the concerns,
take them into consideration, conduct a healthy debate, and make a
recommendation would take a lot longer than the two and a half months left in
2017. Was this forum all a formality? How will this commission be able to make
meaningful recommendations based on the experience and insights of the people
these changes will most affect? It is
the difference between hearing and listening. I could see that the
commission was hearing the people of Baltimore, but was the commission really listening? We will see in January 2018.
References
Richman, T.
& Bowie, L (2017, October 12). Hundreds urge Kirwan Commission to provide
equitable funding to schools. Retrieved October 14, 2017 from
Sterner, Rachel
Baye Nathan. “A packed Poly urges equity in school funding.” WYPR, WYPR,
13 Oct. 2017, wypr.org/post/packed-poly-urges-equity-school-funding.
Thornton Plan.
(2016, January 29). Retrieved October 14, 2017, from
