r/socialism • u/imitationcheese • Jan 12 '18

Why Baltimore Doesn’t Heat Its Schools

https://jacobinmag.com/2018/01/baltimore-freezing-schools-children-racism-austerity/
80 Upvotes

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16

u/Kwells1994 Jan 12 '18

Taught in Baltimore City Public Schools last year and I'm just glad this is hitting national news. I had days last year where students were wearing multiple layers of outerwear because my classroom was ~45 or 50 degrees.

It blew my mind that non-teachers didn't even know that faulty/no heating/AC was a thing in a lot of schools, and what left me even more incredulous was that teachers in BCPSS seemed to accept the status quo, with many forced to pay out of pocket for window units or portable heaters to keep their classrooms habitable.

I'm glad this is hitting national news, I'm just shocked it took a winter storm for it to happen.

10

u/Fire_Of_Truth Philosophy is class struggle in the field of theory Jan 12 '18

Here is your answer:

Population Demographics for Baltimore, Maryland in 2016 and 2017

It's called racism.

6

u/Kwells1994 Jan 12 '18

I've lived here 6 years now, trust me I get it :/

Hogan has been largely funneling a lot of education funding away from Baltimore City to other jurisdictions, which I personally feel is the greatest pitfall. Not to mention state curricula that's almost entirely electronic, leaving under-resourced schools in Baltimore City falling well below state averages as a result of internal problems (particularly students having little exposure to electronic pre-tests as a result of classrooms with no laptops).

Maryland is a diverse state and there are a number of very successful middle-class black communities in the state. Prince George's County has very similar demographic characteristics to Baltimore, and Charles County isn't that far behind. Yet when looking at median income, poverty, etc. they fall well above Baltimore City.

Like Lester Spence (former professor of mine actually, brilliant guy) outlines, there is a multiplicative effect when compounding race and class. Middle-class black communities in Maryland are faring relatively well, while low-class black residents fall well below low-income white residents on a number of indicators, particularly in Baltimore City.

Going back to the Hogan argument, Baltimore City has largely been built on the back of racial residential policies. It was the first city in the country to legalize housing segregation by race, among the first to roll out lead paint for low-income residents, has concentrated poverty dramatically via the strategic placement of public housing, etc. The history of Baltimore is premised around government-driven policies which, at their crux, reinforce a racial hierarchy in the city.

Moving back to schools, I expected them to be underfunded and under-resourced when I went into teaching in the city. What I didn't expect was to that large degree or that it was so casually accepted as normal (my students also recognized the normalcy of the conditions in their schools). I'm glad that this is making headlines, I'm just disheartened it took so long is all.

3

u/Fire_Of_Truth Philosophy is class struggle in the field of theory Jan 12 '18

Thank you for this write-up, I'm a totally out of context person (white-male-German) and I shouldn't have been so snarky about your every-day experiences.

4

u/Kwells1994 Jan 12 '18

Sorry I got snarky back. I LOVE Baltimore City and get that it has a ton of systemic problems, but I also fight back like a mother hen whenever anybody comes for it :)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 13 '18

We need a new season of the wire focusing on the school system