According to Fox Baltimore, Project Baltimore obtained student iReady assessment scores in math and reading that confer some students are doing ten grade levels below their age. The iReady test is performed three times over the course of an academic year to track progress. In a reading assessment, out of nine students who finished it, only two scored at a high school level. One scored at a seventh-grade level, while the other six scored at an elementary school level.
In math, out of the seven students who finished the assessment, just two scored at a high school level. The others, who are in grade 11 in Baltimore City Schools, scored at an elementary level.
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One of the students was performing math at a first-grade level, which according to standards means simple addition and subtraction, like 2 plus 3 and 9 minus 7, and connect-the-dot puzzles.
Carl Stokes, a former City Council member, and charter school operator announced, "They were passing students on who couldn't read, who couldn't compute. I know principals in schools who say, it happened to me, who said, 'I can't pass this student to the next grade. They're not ready.' North Avenue (The district headquarters) refused to allow us to fail the students without a fight. And we fought because we knew we would be hurting the kid."
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Stokes explained that roughly 90 percent of his incoming sixth-graders, every year, were not reading or doing math at grade level. He continued, "That's the deal we have here. We have thousands of kids who are not getting an education, who get out of school or quit school and they have no skill set to sustain themselves. They can't. They can't get a decent job. They can't live well."
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"This is disturbing but not surprising. In a pandemic year they knew we would face challenges, and we did nothing different," said Thiru Vignarajah, former mayoral candidate. "What's happening is the next generation of criminals is underway. It's terrible, but if you fail in classrooms, you're going to see them in our courtrooms"
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Furthermore, it seems like violence is on the rise as well.
Baltimore's homicide count is up to at least 184 right now. That is 11 more than last year at this time.
Almost 370 people have been shot and survived thus far this year, compared to 327 in 2020.
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