Baltimore

 For the past month, I've been following the woes of the Baltimore city school system, and how crapped-out it's become.  So I'm going to lay out what really happened and why it's 'unsolvable'. 

After Baltimore emerged from WW II....around 1950....they were at the peak of population and economics.  As the 1960s arrived....over a ten-year period (ending at 1970), they'd lost around 4-percent of the population.  

By 1980, urban decay had started to arrive....roughly 13-to-14 percent of the city left.  At this point, from 1980....the decline of the school system started up.  Part of this is due to the population shift....neighborhoods in decline....tax revenue is a freefall....and everyone trying to do, with less.  I should mention this as well....cocaine arrived in the 1980s.

The teacher's union....whether grasping this or not....were recruiting and hiring teachers with addiction problems.  The quality slipped.

By the 1990s....the older generation teachers were aware of the discipline problems....the poorer quality teachers coming in....student behavior crapped-out, and lax standards.

In this era...you marginally educated a kid, and at the end of the year....even if he was only 70-percent ready for the 5th grade....you passed him anyway.  The next year....that same kid was passed to 6th grade....probably only 60-percent ready for the requirements.  

In twenty years, even if you recruited 4-star teachers (young and out of college)....it only takes two to three years for the teacher to realize the false atmosphere that exists.  At that point, you submit your papers, and leave (quietly).

If you look around the landscape....probably half the kids from Baltimore who are at age 15....probably have the school level of a 5th grade kid. At best....at age 18....they might be at the level of the 7th grade.  

Resolving this?  What can you do with a 16 year old kid who is four to five years behind the level he should be at?  The bulk of teachers in the city for this job?  You'd have to fire all of them and start from scratch....mandating weekly drug tests.  

My gut feeling...it's not worth resolving.  If you were a parent with a 5 year old kid....the best thing to do is leave the city....don't look back.