Today, the first day of the 2008-2009 school year, is the most important day of the year. And hands down, it is the most important first day in years for Baltimore City Public Schools. Our kids are making historic progress, and we as a school system are in the midst of unprecedented change. As never before, we have the opportunity, momentum and responsibility to turn the city schools into the system of great schools our 81,300 great kids who arrive at school today - with pencils, notebooks and new energy - deserve.
Over the summer, many people saw the HBO documentary Hard Times at Douglass High, a film that offers some context for this day. The film chronicles the 2004-2005 school year at Baltimore's Frederick Douglass High School. That was four years ago, and many who saw the film, myself included, point out that those were different times. But the film is relevant in that it points up the enormous potential of our kids and the huge challenges we face in ensuring their success in school. Mostly, it shows why we are working to transform our schools with such urgency and speed.
The film depicts a school where it was so clear what students needed - and yet weren't getting. They were surrounded by adults who cared about them but who lacked, among other things, the ability to deploy resources to do right by their students.
Starting this year, we are moving money from the central office to the schools, and giving the discretion to spend that money to school leaders and communities. And this year, Douglass' school leaders and families - not bureaucrats far removed from the school - will decide which positions to hire and which programs to fund.
In the film we meet Audie, who at the time was 17 and repeating the ninth grade. He refused to go to class; he was in remedial classes, and it was a self-esteem thing for him. He was one of many ninth-grade repeaters at Douglass. We learn that of Douglass' 500 ninth-graders, half would stop coming to school or drop out by year's end.
Our schools are full of Audies - over-age kids struggling to hang on. Starting today, many will attend one of eight new "transformation schools" and alternative options programs that eliminate the difficult middle-to-high-school transition, offer a college and/or career focus in a small, specialized setting, and put students on pace to graduate on time. In our traditional comprehensive, citywide or small schools, we are providing additional funding for interventions for these children's needs.
