23 Baltimore Maryland Schools Fail Their Students – Not One Kid Could Pass Basic Math Test

Twenty-three schools in Baltimore are failing their students, according to a new analysis – with not one student at the institutions reaching the required level in math.

A mother whose son is attending one of the institutions said on Monday she was furious at the results, which she learnt about on the news.

Davida Allen said she was angry the CEO of Baltimore Public Schools, Sonja Santelises, was earning a base salary of $333,125 – which rose to $444,875 with allowances – yet students were still failing.

‘I think that when we look at our CEO, and we’re seeing how much money she’s making, we’re still seeing that our students are not thriving, you’re starting to question where the funds are being allocated.’

The schools were identified by Project Baltimore, the investigative unit of Fox News 45. Their team analyzed the data from Maryland’s State Department of Education test results for 2022.

Mother of a student at a failing Baltimore school, Davida Allen, said she was angry that the CEO of Baltimore Public Schools, Sonja Santelises, was earning a base salary of $333,125

The only school on the list of 23 failing schools that was a language immersion charter school, Baltimore International Academy West (pictured)

They found that not one student among the 2,000-strong student body was reaching the required math standard in 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three Middle/High schools and two Elementary/Middle schools.

‘Where are things going wrong? How come there’s not enough early intervention?’ asked Allen.

‘And when you see other counties thriving, why is it that counties such as Montgomery County, Howard County, those counties are able to thrive, but why is Baltimore City systematically failing continuously year over year?’

Allen did not name her first grade son’s school, but said it was a language immersion charter school. There is only one such school on the list, Baltimore International Academy West.

At the school, 198 students from K-8th grade are taught primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, or French.

‘One of my concerns has always been questioning the model,’ said Allen, who is a member of the parent/teacher liaison group.

‘The children learn in a different language. And what I had always said was key is that, it’s great that they are learning in another language. But they also need to be proficient in English and learning everything in English.

‘And I think that some of the drawback of our son’s school is that they are so focused on the language, they are dropping the ball in other areas such as math.’

Allen said that parents need to hold ‘administrators accountable.’

She added: ‘You have to be vocal. You have to be involved. You have to question. You have to challenge.’

Sonja Santelises, whose salary rose to $444,875 with allowances despite the fact many students in her schools were underperforming

Twenty-three failing schools were identified by Project Baltimore, the investigative unit of Fox News 45

In August last year Baltimore City Schools committed to spending $21,000 per student thanks to a huge funding increase. US census data from 2020 indicates the expenditure per pupil in Maryland as a whole was $15,489

School funding in Baltimore has been historically low, and although its recently received a large injection of cash results are yet to be seen.

In August last year Baltimore City Schools committed to spending $21,000 per student thanks to a huge funding increase. The change, brought about by a bill passed two years prior, made Baltimore the fourth most funded large school system in the country.

The three districts that spend more than Baltimore are New York City, Boston and Washington DC. All three have significantly better national test scores and double the number of students proficient in reading compared to Baltimore, Fox Baltimore reported.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore delivered his first State of the State address last week and addressed the crisis faced by Baltimore’s schools.

‘We made the largest investment in public education by any governor in our state’s history,’ he said. ‘We can no longer separate our vision for economic prosperity from the duty to make Maryland’s public schools the best in the nation.’

According to 2021 census data, Baltimore’s poverty rate was 20.3 percent.

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