Hogan must stand up for Baltimore
Has Gov. Larry Hogan decided to borrow a trick from President Donald Trump and use “alternative facts” to bolster his agenda? Although I did not vote for the governor, I respected him until I heard his offensive comments on Tuesday. There seemed to be no reason for him to say in his phone call to WBAL that the financial situation of the schools is an “absolute disaster.” In fact, the most recent audit of the schools shows no problem with the current management under Sonja Santelises who should not be blamed for problems of past administrations.
Both Christopher B. Summers in his recent commentary (“For Md. schools, more money is not the answer,” March 1) and Governor Hogan ignore the fact that the school funding formula omitted the full inflation factor for years during and after the recession. Had the inflation factor been employed each year, the city schools would have received an additional $290 million dollars and would not be faced with a $129 million deficit.
I am so tired of this circular reasoning. Underfund the schools, and then when they can’t produce the results we want, blame them and argue for vouchers. The vast majority of students in the Baltimore City Public Schools qualify for free or reduced lunch and are non-white. At the risk of being accused of playing “the race card,” I contend this underfunding would never be tolerated if those students were white and wealthy.
Governor Hogan claims he wants to work with Baltimore to see the city grow and succeed. Why, then, would he make such comments which clearly will cause people with children to think twice about moving to this city? As a businessman, he must see that schools will lose more students, and even businesses may have trouble recruiting talented employees.
Then I had an “Ah-ha!” moment. Could it be that all the protests and phone calls are beginning to work? Does he see that the tide of public opinion not only in Baltimore but throughout the state is turning — that citizens want him to help close the funding gap? I believe he is resorting to “alternative facts” to discredit the schools as a last-ditch effort to push his agenda for more private school vouchers.
It won’t work, Governor. We are on to you. The protests and phone calls will continue until you do the right thing for Baltimore.