By John Ubaldi, “Ubaldi Reports”

Far too long little has been covered on the failure of America’s public school system! At the end of September a report released showed that forty percent of Baltimore’s schools lack a single student who has achieved grade-level proficiency in math.

The Maryland State Department of Education’s 2022 state test results reported Baltimore City’s math scores were the lowest in Maryland. Just 7 percent of third through eighth graders tested proficient in math, meaning 93 percent could not do math at grade level.

Project Baltimore combed through the scores at all 150 City Schools where the state math test was given. Their investigation found, in 23 Baltimore City schools, there were zero students who tested proficient in math. Not a single student!

This despicable educational achievement is vindictive of what is transpiring across America in the nation’s public school system, but instead of addressing this despicable educational results school administrator’s solution to the problem is to lower standards.

This educational report continues an examination of 32 high schools in Baltimore which administered the state’s standardized test and its finding were abysmal that 13 schools produced no students who proved proficient in math. Three-fourths of the Baltimore students who took the test were given the lowest possible score one could receive

If this wasn’t bad enough at the five “elite” high schools, only 11.4 percent of students were math proficient.

Far too often the Baltimore public educational system is an example of what is transpiring across the country where billions of dollars are spent on public education and the only results for all this revenue are failing scores and standards, especially acute for children of color.  Other recent data adds showcased another disturbing educational statistic: 41 percent of students in the Baltimore system have a 1.0 (D) GPA or less.

The response from Baltimore City Public Schools regarding this abysmal report was a slight of hand, “We acknowledge that some of our high school students continue to experience challenges in math following the pandemic, especially if they were struggling beforehand.” The problem with this statement, this didn’t begin with the pandemic it has been brewing way before the pandemic begun, but nothing has been done to address this educational disparity.

Too many would state this is a lack of resources unfortunately, the Baltimore City Public School System has annual budget $1.7 billion dollar budget, not to mention was given an addition $799 million of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds this school year. Despite being given a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars the school administrators have failed these students, and forever consigned these students to low wage jobs with minimal economic options or others to incarceration in the criminal justice system.

Since this report was released we have heard crickets from those who say they care about children of color, considering 80% of Baltimore Public School children who are black! So my question where is Black Lives Matter, all the civil rights leaders, the professional athletes, where are all the Democratic elected representatives, and President’s Biden, Clinton, and Obama.

Where is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) who incidentally is headquartered in Baltimore, do the leaders get out and see the misery for children of color in the city schools and for that matter what is transpiring across the country for black and Hispanic children?

Where is President Obama on this subject especially as it impacts black children? One only has to remember when he was an obscure State Senator from Illinois he gave the Keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, “If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child.”

I guess rhetoric is great when its used to score political points, especially since Obama’s daughter’s never went to public school like the masses but opted them out to attend prestigious private school’s their entire childhood.

It seems the Obama’s profit off the misery of their own community as long as it gains them power and influence, but does nothing to help black and Hispanic children. Maybe instead of vacationing in the Mediterranean aboard the yachts of rich and powerful, they should use their star power to help black and Hispanic children have better educational opportunities that their own children enjoyed. Unfortunately, that is someone else’s child problem!

Where ae the leaders of Maryland, such as Democratic U.S. Senator’s Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen, Democratic Governor Wes Moore who also is African-American. One also has to ask former two term Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland did he know about the dismal educational achievement of Baltimore children considering he served as governor from 2015 to 2023. This didn’t happen overnight, but has been going on for years, so what did you know and if you did know what did you do about it, if you didn’t know why not?

Where is Democratic Congressional Representative James Clyburn, the longtime civil rights leader who was instrumental in getting President Biden elected president, has consistently spoken on the improvement of black lives has been silent on this disparity in education; why?

They always claim Black Lives Matter and routinely state America is systemically racist but have been eerily silent on the dismal academic achievement of children of color. It seems they benefit politically and monetarily on the misery of their own people!

These elected leaders will always point that what the nation needs to do is allocate more resources to public schools, but many of the top spending public school districts in the country have the worst performing school districts. New York topped the per capita spending at $24,040 per child, with the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. at close to $23,000. The city of Baltimore placed in the top three for per pupil spending at close to $22,000 and this is the results they get.

If this wasn’t bad enough, Baltimore Superintendent of Public Education Dr. Sonja Santelises, last year received a raise with a total compensation package of over $444,000, what was the metric for this considering the deplorable educational results standards for the city’s children; with the vast amount impacting children of color?

What metric was used in Santelises for receiving a raise? Where was the state of Maryland in educational oversight, as this couldn’t have been a singular aberration, but something that was years in the making.

Baltimore is not alone. The entire state of Minnesota reported a zero percent math proficiency rate in 75 of its schools during the 2022-23 school year.

Again, this isn’t just confined to just Baltimore, just examine New York, California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois and other states often state Black Lives Matter but all have over 80% of children of color deficient at grade level in math and English, so why the silence?

This is America’s greatest civil rights issue of our time; America’s dismal educational achievement in the nation’s public schools.