The ACLU is calling on state and city leaders to address a $2.8 billion need for renovations to Baltimore schools by developing a more creative and equitable way to fund school construction across Maryland.
In a report to be released Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union says that despite state increases in school construction dollars in recent years, many city schools are still deteriorating and at current funding levels it would take 50 years for them to be in good condition.
Subpar schools negatively affect student achievement, discourage middle-class families from remaining in the city and bring down neighborhoods, the report said.
Renovating buildings "could radically transform the schools, boost student achievement and build healthy neighborhoods, but there is no funding mechanism to get from here to there," said Bebe Verdery, education director for the ACLU of Maryland. "We want to launch this [study] to foster public debate about how we are going to do this."
The report argues that because the state does not take into account each district's needs and ability to fund projects locally, school construction funding lacks equity. While the need is greatest in the city and Prince George's County school systems, according to the report, those districts get about the same amount of money from the state as the other largest school systems. From 2007 to 2010, for example, the state gave wealthy Montgomery County $174 million vs. $162.6 million to Baltimore City.
Most counties are able to use their local revenues to significantly increase the amount of money they spend on facilities. But over the past three years, the total spending on school buildings, including state and local funds, in Montgomery County was $931 million, compared with $239 million in Baltimore.
"If current levels of funding continue, Baltimore City students will never have high-quality school buildings," Verdery said. "It would take 50 years to complete the $2.8 billion school facilities plan. A new approach is needed."
David G. Lever, executive director of the Maryland Public School Construction Program, says there is equity in the state funding. Every school system has complex needs, and nearly every school system has a gap between its need for school construction dollars and what it gets, he said.
"One district may have aging schools that can be a condition of prior neglect. Another jurisdiction may have younger buildings, but have rapid student growth. In Montgomery, growth is just as serious an issue as the age of the buildings in Baltimore City," Lever said. "We take a statewide view, and we have to balance out the complex needs of various jurisdictions."
In Baltimore, Frederick Douglass High School, one of the most architecturally beautiful old schools in the city, needs to be gutted and completely renovated, according to Patricia Rhodes, president of the alumni association.
She said the school lacks air conditioning, as do 50 percent of the city schools. Some windows won't open, and some won't close, and in winter, some classrooms are sweltering and others freezing. The electrical system cannot support the number of computers the school would like to have. Water fountains had to be turned off because of lead levels, so the school uses bottled water. The third floor is in such disrepair that it can no longer be used and an elevator for disabled students is constantly breaking down.
"We feel the pain," said Keith Scroggins, the city schools' chief operating officer. "When you look at the amount Baltimore City schools receives compared to what the other jurisdictions receive from their local jurisdictions, the difference is striking. That is not a criticism of Baltimore City. I am sure if they could borrow more, they would."
The ACLU, which helped spearhead the push to get a more equitable spending formula for school operating budgets passed by the legislature in 2002, is now working to persuade state and city leaders to address what it believes is their constitutional responsibility to provide adequate facilities.
The ACLU points out several innovative funding models used in other cities and states across the nation that have successfully helped provide an infusion of cash to get aging schools up to par and to build new ones.
In Georgia, the legislature passed a law so that counties could hold referenda that allowed taxpayers to decide whether to increase their sales tax by one penny to fund school construction. More than 90 percent of counties voted for the tax, which fueled school renovations.
In South Carolina, the Greenville school district has built or renovated 87 schools in the past five years using $1 billion that was raised by a nonprofit.
