Some Baltimore School Are Dangerous
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Jul 30, 2007
THE last label you want for your local high school or middle
school is “persistently dangerous,” yet on July 25, five Baltimore schools were tagged with that exact
name. Maryland
is now one of several states in the nation to apply the federal designation to
any of its schools.
The five schools, Calverton Middle School, Thurgood
Marshall Middle School,
Dr. Roland Patterson Academy, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois Senior High School and the Liberal Arts Academy
at Walbrook Campus, were on the same list last year. They failed to make enough
progress in reducing student suspensions to escape the designation this year.
There is a serious problem with labeling schools as
dangerous. The labeling of schools doesn’t fix anything, and the stain hurts
not only the school, but also the community.
According to school board member Blair G. Ewing,
the real problem comes from the No Child Left Behind law because it creates
difficulties for the local community. He said the federal education law applies
a pejorative term to describe a school without offering any assistance in
resolving the problem.
Here’s how a school gets put on the list—2.5 percent of the
student body must have been suspended for arson, possessing a weapon or drugs,
assaulting a teacher or another student, or sexual assault. The number of
incidents at the five schools varied from as many as 21 to as few as six.
The fact is, schools can’t move forward with an
instructional program when the students and staff don’t feel safe. While the
schools should focus on safety, a swift implementation of security applications
should be put in place. Last year, only 46 of the 95,000 schools in the nation
were designated “persistently dangerous;” six are in Maryland. Only New York
and Pennsylvania
had more school on the list.
About the Author
Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.