Following up on the recent release of several education assessments for the state of Maryland, F. Chris Curran, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, wrote a Baltimore Sun op-ed that examined the state of education in Baltimore City Public Schools and available educational opportunities for students.
“This month saw the release of several national education assessments that paint a less than optimistic picture of the state of education in Maryland. These results shake us and make headlines because they question our state’s prominence as a high performer in education. The reality, however, is that for many of the state’s residents, particularly those in Baltimore, questioning the educational system’s success is nothing new. Changes in the state’s average performance mean little for those trapped in consistently underperforming schools,” Curran wrote.
In his column, Curran called for more policies to improve schools so that the quality of education provided to students is equal regardless of the region of the state in which they live.
“We need policies that link the fates of children in the suburbs to those in the city. We need policies that provide incentives and structures so that remaining in the public city schools is attractive even for those with the ability to go elsewhere,” he wrote. “The recent attention to the state’s performance on educational assessments is an opportunity to recognize that we require a concerted effort by not just parents but state policymakers, local district leaders, and the general populace. Educational success cannot only be defined by the success of a few or success on average, but must also include opportunity and success for all children, regardless of the ZIP code into which they are born.”
Read Curran’s op-ed “Improve Baltimore schools to attract families,” published November 20 in the Baltimore Sun.
F. Chris Curran has research interests in education policy, early childhood education, school discipline and safety, teacher labor markets, and politics of education. Read more about his work on the School of Public Policy website.
Image: Baltimore skyline from I-95. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.
Tags: CAHSS, PublicPolicy
