13 Baltimore High Schools Have Zero Students That Are Proficient In Math

For the past several weeks, one Fox affiliate in Baltimore has been publishing some staggering stories about the Baltimore public school system under an investigative series called "Project Baltimore."  Just a few weeks ago we noted one of those stories in which an undercover teacher admitted that public schools routinely pass kids that never even bother to show up for class a single day during the school year.

Now, a stunning new installment of the Project Baltimore series from Fox 45 reveals that 13 public high schools sprinkled around Baltimore, of the city"s 39 total, had exactly 0 kids that tested proficient in math. 

An alarming discovery coming out of City Schools. Project Baltimore analyzed 2017 state testing data and found one-third of High Schools in Baltimore, last year, had zero students proficient in math.

 

Project Baltimore analyzed 2017 state test scores released this fall. We paged through 16,000 lines of data and uncovered this: Of Baltimore City’s 39 High Schools, 13 had zero students proficient in math.

 

• Achievement Academy


• Carver Vocational-Technical High


• Coppin Academy


• Excel Acadamy @ Francis M. Wood High


• Forest Park High


• Frederick Douglass High


• Independence School Local 1


• Knowledge and Success Academy


• New Era Academy


• New Hope Academy


• Northwestern High


• Patterson High


• The Reach! Partnership School

Meanwhile, digging a bit deeper, Fox 45 also found that of the 3,804 students in Baltimore"s worst 19 high schools, only 14 of them, or less than 1%, were proficient in math.

Digging further, we found another six high schools where one percent tested proficient. Add it up – in half the high schools in Baltimore City, 3804 students took the state test, 14 were proficient in math.

 

• Ben Franklin H.S. at Masonville Cove


• ConneXions: Community Based Arts SchoolDigital Harbor High School


• Edmondson-Westside High


• Renaissance Academy


• Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy

Not sursprisingly, only one Baltimore school replied to Fox 45 with a generic comment suggesting that improvement is difficult and "will take time."  That said, why do we suspect that "improvement" will also take just a little more taxpayer money despite the fact that Baltimore already spends $16,000 per year per student...which, mind you, is more than many private schools that deliver far better results.

With these eye-opening results, Project Baltimore reached to North Avenue. But no one inside the building would sit down to answer our questions. Instead, we got a statement. Concerning our investigation, it read, “These results underscore the urgency of the work we are now pursuing. We must do more to meet the needs of all our students.”

 

That work, according to the statement, involves a new math curriculum started this year, enhanced teacher development and expanded partnerships to provide opportunities for students.

 

The statement concludes, “There is no simple answer that will close the achievement gap for Baltimore’s students. Though we all want to see results quickly, the work is hard and will take time.”

Of course, we"re almost certain that these poor results have absolutely nothing to do with Baltimore"s stellar, unionized teachers and administrators who will undoubtedly get to maintain their jobs and exorbitant public pensions despite the complete failure of their students.

"It's Absurd" - 6 Baltimore Schools Have Zero Students Proficient In State Math, English Tests

Baltimore schools spend a staggering $16,00 per student - the fourth-highest rate in the nation - and still an investigation by Fox45"s Project Baltimore revealed that at six city schools, not one student scored proficient on either the statewide tests for English and math.

At West Baltimore"s Frederick Douglass High, one of five high schools and one middle school where not one student scored a four or a five on the state test, only one out of 185 students who took the test last year scored a three, while 165 students scored a one, the lowest possible score. 

The schools are:

• Booker T. Washington Middle School

• Frederick Douglass High School

• Achievement Academy at Harbor City

• New Era Academy

• Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High

• New Hope Academy

"That"s absurd to me," says Janel Nelson, the mother of one Frederick Douglass student. "That"s your teacher"s report card, ultimately." Janel"s son Navon Warren lost his father when he was three months old, followed by two uncles and a childhood friend, all whom were gunned down in the streets of Baltimore by the time he was 18. But Warren is one of the lucky ones; a champion swimmer, he won a scholarship to Bethany College in West Virginia and is preparing to leave Baltimore in the fall, one of only a few dozen students in his class to go to college. In fact, only 50% of Frederick Douglass students ever graduate.

Baltimore is one of a handful of U.S. cities - along with Chicago and Washington D.C. - where violent crime is once again on the rise after a two-decade decline brought us to historic lows. Crime, fueled by the opioid epidemic and decades of failed liberal policies.

Now, abandoned buildings dot the landscape and drug addicts can be seen lying in the streets. Through the end of April, the city had recorded 118 murders - putting it on track to surpass 400 for the year, what would be a new all-time peak for the murder rate. But what"s worse, even more people are dying of drug overdoses, thanks to synthetic opioids like Fentanyl and Carfentanyl that can be 100 times more potent than heroin. 

Returning to the money for just a moment, it"s difficult to imagine how a school system can spend so much money and still be so ineffective. Warren, to his credit, has a simple answer, yet illuminating answer. “The tests are harder than what we’re learning in class.”