Baltimore faces no good options on school funding

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young has asked city agencies to cut back their budget 5% to fund the Kirwan Commission program (“Mayor warns agencies of cut,” Nov. 23). Mayor Young asked agency heads to rank their priorities from most to least important. “This ranking will help us to reach a mutual understanding of which higher priority services to preserve,” he wrote. All the services are there for a reason and serve the residents of Baltimore. Cutting any of the services will hurt someone somewhere in Baltimore.

What about the fire department, police department, public works and so on and so on. Most are underfunded and need maintenance money, equipment replacement money, etc. It’s amazing to think they can improve the school system by depriving families of various services. Baltimore itself will be 5% less efficient than it is today. Not a pretty thought to say the least.

So then we come down to the obvious answer that it is easier to cut jobs than vital services. Can the DPW not replace old sewage pipes? Can the fire department not afford to replace trucks and equipment? No, it will come down to people, and as you cut people, services will suffer. It is a losing deal either way.

Stas Chrzanowski, Baltimore