Holy Buck, Fatman!

 Early this AM, as I watched WBAL through eyes half shut, I noticed a story they were doing on a “State of the Art” combination Middle/High School.  This new school will be equipped with the latest and greatest in technology, such as:

The school has a television studio, a mass communications lab with a radio station and a graphics and visual communications lab. School officials said they hope to use the new technology to teach a growing student population.

The new state of the art school is located in the town of Emmerton in Harford County. The project was designed to alleviate overcrowded schools and to prepare for the Base Realignment and Closure set to relocate thousands to the Baltimore metro area. The project cost a cool $59 million for the school alone.

The entire FY 2008 budget  for repairs to ailing schools in Baltimore’s inner city? $67,609 for the entire school system.  (pg 291 .pdf BCPPS) 2006-2007 had an allocated budget of 21 million but it wasn’t actually approved by then Governor Ehrlich.  Gov. Ehrlich and the State Board of Education approved the building of the Patterson Mill school in 2005.

Lets take a look at some demographics.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, The city of Baltimore had a median household income of  $29,792 in 2004.  64% of the city is African American. Home Ownership rates in the city are only at 50%. Jobs paying a living wage? hahahahahahahahahaha! Why do you think *I* Commute to DC every friken day?!?!?!?!?

Harford County, on the other hand had a median income of $64,000 in 2004. Only 6% of people living in Harford County are African American. Home ownership is at 78%.  Jobs that pay a living wage? Well, BRAC has been bringing in some seriously high profile government contractors who provide some competitive wages. Hmmm….

When the SCOTUS ruled in favor of disallowing schools to use race to diversify, I wrote that the impact will be along economic lines. I  also discussed the problems that  inner city schools face, continuing  to fail under No Child Left Behind simply because they lack the budget to even operate with the proper resources such as textbooks and working computers. Never mind the schools are in such disrepair that some are in desperate  need of MOLD ABATEMENT from leaky roofs and windows. Separate but equal, right?

While the well funded county schools enjoy the perks of larger Government grants under NCLB, the inner city schools are under a constant threat of being taken over by the state, which could hand them over to a private corporation. If that were to happen, I believe  private corporations would move to  start charing fees to parents for their services. Onward to an ownership society, right? If you own the means to pay, you can send your child to school. If not, there is the little “public” school down the street, you know, the one with the outhouse?

It’s a no brainer that more money for supplies and needed resources give students a better opportunity to excel. Areas concentrated in higher median incomes demand better schools or they will move their money elsewhere. Since many cities and counties depend on the property taxes to provide funding for needed infrastructure, they are willing to make their counties more attractive to live in, even if that means spending lavishly on schools to keep the parents happy.

Access to quality education is a long term  soultion to poverty. The more educated a child is, the better informed they are and can go fourth and make positive changes for themselves and their community. Being smart no longer becomes a liability, it becomes something worth pursuing and they become cool among their peers. Although this would take time to change, better funding for inner city schools can make a huge difference. Imagine if the inner city students had access to the state of the art technology and equipment the Harford County school has? I bet some young minds would be better inspired to create things the world has yet to see. It’s a damn shame no one will give them the chance.