Pointing to years of progress on standardized tests, Mayor Martin O'Malley praised Baltimore's students and teachers Tuesday and proudly proclaimed: "This is no less than one of the biggest turnaround stories of any urban school system in the United States of America."
But education experts say Baltimore's achievements are not unique because many urban school systems have made academic gains in recent years. And yesterday, members of the mayor's staff said they were still looking for data to back up his assertion.
O'Malley made his sweeping statement after the release of Maryland School Assessment results that showed pupils in the state's most troubled system continued to improve in math and reading this year.
The mayor's praise was music to the ears of school administrators, who have faced fiscal problems, violence in schools and a teacher shortage. And education is an important issue for O'Malley because he is expected to make a gubernatorial bid.
Several recent studies show urban school districts across the country have made steady gains in math and reading.
"Baltimore's not by itself," said Henry Duvall, a spokesman for the Council of Great City Schools, an advocacy group for urban districts. "Baltimore just fits right in with the urban school trend."
O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the mayor's comments were a challenge to his staff and school leaders to find evidence that something special is happening in Baltimore's schools.
"The main point [the mayor is] trying to make is that it's a remarkable turnaround point for Baltimore City," he said.
O'Malley did not respond to a request to be interviewed for this article. At a news conference yesterday, the mayor took his declaration down a notch: "We are researching ... to see if we are not in the middle of one of the biggest turnaround stories of any major school system in any major city in America."
O'Malley's praise of the city's schools comes at time when he has increased his influence over the system after bailing it out of of a cash-flow crisis with a $42 million loan. The city has exerted control over several areas of school operations, including finances, facilities and school police.
The mayor's office sought yesterday to show that Baltimore has been more successful than some urban districts, by providing data that ranked the city's elementary pupils against children in nine other urban school systems. Baltimore ranked third in reading, behind Newark, N.J., and Detroit, and fourth in math, behind New York, Chicago and Detroit, according to the data.
