BALTIMORE – WJZ hosted an education-themed town hall in the Baltimore City Public Schools District Wednesday with leading mayoral candidates.
WJZ anchor Dennis Koch moderated a forum on “Our Students, Our Schools, Our Future.”
Maryland's primary election will be held on May 14th.
Based on the poll, the Baltimore Teachers Network invited the top four candidates (Til Vignarajah, Wendy Bozell, and Donald Scoggins) to a forum to answer a set of prepared questions. Yolanda Pulley then replaced Dixon on stage.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott initially accepted the invitation but later declined to attend the anti-violence event in Baltimore.
“Unfortunately, I will not be able to join you tonight due to an anti-violence event that requires my attendance,” Mayor Scott said in a statement. “Making Baltimore safer has been my top priority as mayor. Working together with our community, we have been able to reduce homicides and non-fatal shootings.”
“I look forward to sharing my vision for continuing to move Baltimore forward in the near future,” he continued.
Each candidate was given two minutes to answer key questions about their education.
They shared their thoughts on what is working, what needs improvement, and ideas for the future of the school system.
“There is no subject more important than education, no job more important than being a teacher,” said Vignaraja, whose parents are retired educators. “The reality is that our schools are falling apart. We need dramatic changes, we need to create community schools, we need to establish universal preschool and mental health in every classroom. there is.”
“I'm a teacher, my mother was a teacher,” Bosel said. “As a teacher, when I first walked into the classroom, there was no heating. Everything I asked for was not included in the 10-year budget. I looked into it. Why is it cold? ?We don't have air conditioning. “We've given all the budgets to each principal. Let's bring everything back and centralize it.''
“What I want to do is create a curriculum that is very student-centered,” Scoggins said. “A lot of students don't do well because they're not interested. We have trade-based curricula, we have these rec center openings, we have internship-type programs, we have internships in local government so they can make money. They can make money. We want to create, so people can be productive citizens.”
“I'm a former teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools,” said Dixon, a former mayor of Baltimore City. “One of the reasons I became a politician is because we don't make progress unless we change policy and alignment with the education system. I'm from this school district. Baltimore has more per capita income. ” “But our situation is getting worse. The key is education. Education is what will change this city.”
Question: What do you think about Baltimore City's current spending on public education?
Vignaraja: It has the third highest spend, chronic absenteeism and a huge challenge. We want to ensure that the funds are used for specific issues. I need more money, but I want to use it for a specific purpose. ”
Bozell: We want to make sure every school is a great choice. From Prison to Pipeline, they plan to test her third grade students based on reading level. It is a universal kindergarten with two teachers in every classroom from Kindergarten to second grade. I don't want children who can't read starting in the third grade of elementary school. If they knew how to read, they wouldn't go to jail. I'm sorry you had to learn about the school-to-prison pipeline. We need to address her 58% of students who are absent, her 122 students who were shot.
Scoggins: Cooperate more with your family. Many students need to look at what their families are going through. Most crimes are committed by young people. It's not just the students, it's the families too. I also want to get my family involved. There is enough money to bring in families.
Dixon: The mayor appoints seven of the nine members of the Board of Education. If you hear the administration saying schools are not responsible, that is misinformation. Now more than ever, accountability is needed. Gambling was supposed to be used to fund the school. I think the school day, extracurricular activities, all of that is part of development, so it needs to be extended. Families can also participate and benefit. I believe in the concept of community schools and partnerships with local officials.
Question 3: What do you think about the national teacher shortage?
Vignaraja: This is a national crisis. He can barely place one teacher in each classroom. There's a lot of uncertainty. How do they get paid? We need to establish very specific incentives, bonuses for teachers, and encourage teachers to teach in the toughest schools. Our schools are in great disarray. It's hard to be a teacher in this city. Pay is uncertain and we don't treat them like the backbone of society.
Bozell: Being a teacher is tough. Teachers' main complaints are paperwork and time. We need to give teachers more time and reduce red tape. We need to hire more teachers. We should come to our local universities, hire them, and forgive their debt if they teach within five years. There are a lot of empty schools, so we turn them into apartments and condominiums and hire teachers to fill those empty schools.
Scoggins: We reach out to retirees with life experience who are looking for a second career. Let them teach him one or three days a week. Certification requirements can be adjusted. Teachers don't want to be bureaucrats.
Dixon: Our schools must be safe. Baltimore City public schools are not safe. When you decide to become a teacher, it is a calling. Teachers today are not respected. We need to make sure they are respected and treated in the same way as footballers, work with universities and give young people early exposure. There are many other issues besides pay, discipline, family, and school coordination. We need to have a thorough discussion with our teachers. We value not only listening to their voices, but also collaborating with them. Having a clean environment is not necessarily a question of money.
Question: How can we deal with poverty?
Vignaraja: Education is related to all issues. It is a center of poverty, crime and society. The reality is that we have to do something dramatic to address our neighborhoods. We need to ensure that these children have access to an education that lifts them out of poverty. First we have to get them into school. We can have someone come to their home to check on them, but we will have to pick them up from their location. We have to put them on a trajectory to do jobs that will take them out of poverty… Some of them want to work with their hands… We need to help children must be sent to school. They teach them skills and trades… ((quoting Frederick Douglass))
Bozell: We have to bring back the truant officers. Poverty is a problem. I asked one student why he didn't come to school. One student didn't have a washer and dryer. We have funds available to support these families. Students must work to earn extra money for their families to eat and pay rent. If you know that is an issue, you can support these students. Another problem with truancy is that many parents do not understand that it is against the law for their children to miss school. We don't want to fine parents, but we do want to remind them of the laws in this book.
Scoggins: Who said kids have to go to school every day? I think very innovative students give us options. I use the other days to do homework or go to work. Don't stress your child by sending them to school every day.
Dixon: We have a nonprofit called Healthy Start, and that's an opportunity to work with those families to make babies. The way out of poverty is education. Why can others come to this country and do well? Because we prioritize education. Maybe creating an internship for high school students. There are many training opportunities to help families lift themselves out of poverty. Some community schools have laundry rooms to accommodate the needs of students' families. Schools are the heart of our communities and we need to build on that.
Question: What is the solution to the rise in crime, gun violence, and school violence?
Vignaraja: The violence we see in our schools is a result of what seeps in from the streets. We don't want our schools to look like prisons. I don't want my children to feel that way. Bringing more guns into schools poses risks. Of course we have to protect our schools. The overwhelming challenge is mental health, not gun access. They are both victims and perpetrators of these crimes. No results. Those who commit violent crimes need to be taught that there is a reward for their crimes.
Bozell: I work directly with them, so I have a unique perspective. As I have said before, to bring about change in schools we need to have a truancy officer. We need to open up our police exercise programs again. When young people had a place to go, youth violence decreased. There were also students at the police academy, which helped fill vacancies. Let's start teaching again.
Scoggins: Open Backup Center. I am in favor of resource officers being armed. Many young children have weapons at school, but they don't think about it. I think we need to take a firm approach to this point. It helps if students go to work instead of going to school every day. Going to school every day does not necessarily mean that children are studying. The children are bored. We need to ask the children who commit these violent crimes. Find out what you can do to engage with them and capture their attention.
Dixon: I agree that we shouldn't have prisons in schools, but we need to ensure the safety of children who want to attend school. He mediates between the two families. School police officers are in short supply and need to be visible. Our school police officers are in cars and not walking around outside. You walk to the beat and visualize yourself.
