The Baltimore school board has received 13 applications from groups wanting to open charter schools, reflecting a broad range of educational trends and philosophies.
One stresses the arts, while another focuses on physical fitness. Some emphasize experimental and project-based learning, while others believe in a prescribed, back-to-basics approach. There's a proposal for a language "immersion" school that would teach pupils in Chinese, Russian or French. Two proposals would cater to children in foster care.
An application generating significant discussion calls for an all-boys middle school with year-round classes, a 12-hour academic day and mandatory Saturday activities -- an attempt to keep a vulnerable population off the streets, while stopping short of creating a boarding school. New federal regulations have made it easier to create single-gender classes and schools.
The proposals highlight a wide-ranging effort by educators, parents and concerned residents to reach out to failing students in Baltimore, now home to 17 of the state's 24 charter schools. And they come amid a battle between the city school board and charter operators over how such schools should be funded.
Charter schools -- public schools that operate independently under contracts with local school boards -- are supposed to foster innovation. In the Maryland suburbs, where academic achievement is higher, there have been fewer charter proposals. Anne Arundel County, for example, has one application pending. Howard County and Baltimore County have none.
Carl Stokes, a co-founder of the proposed all-boys middle school in Baltimore, presented grim statistics at a public forum Tuesday night as he made the case that something different must be done to save the city's adolescent males. He said more than 50 percent of fifth-grade boys at East Baltimore elementary schools are passing the state math test. But by the time those boys are in eighth grade at surrounding middle schools, the pass rates are in the single digits.
"It's so stunning -- and I'm not being dramatic -- it takes my breath away," said Stokes, a former city councilman and mayoral candidate.
The city's first charter schools opened in August 2005. Their results have been mixed. One, KIPP Ujima Village Academy, has the state's highest seventh- and eighth-grade math scores.
The Baltimore school board is scheduled to vote Dec. 12 on the 13 applications -- 12 for schools that would open in the 2007-2008 school year and one for 2008-2009.
