After replacing principals and pledging to raise standards at Polytechnic Institute and City College, Baltimore school officials acknowledged what parents and alumni of the two premier public high schools have contended for several years: Neither is living up to its vaunted reputation.
While the schools boast a century-old history of sending graduates to top-tier colleges and producing city leaders, student achievement recently has lagged behind the area's best suburban high schools and top magnet high schools in other cities.
Of the students who graduated in the Class of 2003, 46 percent from Poly and 39 percent from City had earned a degree from a two- or four-year college six years later, rates that top school officials concede are far too low.
"How can I possibly be satisfied?" said Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso. "These should be flagship schools, not because of their legacy. … Kids should be getting the education they deserve."
Alonso, who has focused on the city's lowest-performing schools, removed both principals this month, just two weeks before the start of the school year. The principal at Western High School retired, and a new principal will work there as well. The changes leave leadership at three of the city's top selective high schools in flux as parents and the community have begun clamoring for the schools to improve.
While Alonso and the system's new chief academic officer, Sonja Brookins Santelises, expect higher standards at Poly and City, they say they will leave it to the school communities to decide on changes.
"I don't have a three-year plan," Santelises said. "It is not about coming in and imposing a plan."
But parents, teachers and alumni say they are pleased that City and Poly are receiving much-needed attention.
Alonso "is putting a lot of pressure on these selective high schools to do better," said Karen Stokes, a City parent and the head of the Greater Homewood Corp. "I am glad to see that that expectation is there, and if it requires a change in leadership at these schools, then so be it."
The quality of those schools, she said, is a drawing card that attracts families to Baltimore. "Having high standards and high expectations is absolutely essential if we are going to keep people in the city," Stokes said.
For decades, City and Poly, as well as all-girls Western, have educated the city's top civic leaders, who have proudly supported their schools. Poly graduates have included writers H.L. Mencken and Dashiell Hammett; radio talk-show host and former state Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell IV; and businessman Alonzo Decker. City alumni include Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin and Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, as well as former Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer.
While there is no entrance examination for the schools, they require the highest scores on a citywide grading system.
Until now, the schools have not received the same kind of scrutiny from Alonso as some of the more troubled schools in the city.
"We have to do the same level of analysis and push that we are doing at the other schools," Santelises said.
Information gathered by the school system and presented to alumni of the two schools shows that some key areas of student achievement have declined there.
At City, the average combined SAT score fell by 57 points during the past three years; this year it was 1325 out of a possible 2400. Only five graduating seniors did well enough to obtain the International Baccalaureate diploma last spring, down from 12 the year before. City is the only high school in Baltimore to offer the prestigious program.
Good results for those who work hard
City also isn't sending as many graduates to four-year colleges as the school administration thinks it should. According to school system figures, 76 percent of City graduates in 2009 enrolled in a four-year college, compared with about 96 percent from selective schools in Boston, where Santelises previously lived. And too many of the remaining graduates are enrolling in trade schools, compared with graduates of similar schools in Boston, officials say.
At Poly, the combined average SAT scores were 1508 in 2009, significantly higher than City's, but they have dropped 40 points in the past several years.
Fewer Poly students are taking Advanced Placement classes, and fewer are passing the tests than in many suburban high schools. At Poly, 44.7 percent of the tests resulted in scores of 3 (considered passing) or better, a rate far lower than in the best nonselective high schools in surrounding counties.
At Dulaney High School in Baltimore County, the pass rate on AP exams is above 80 percent for most subjects offered. At Centennial High School in Howard County, 421 students took more than 1,000 exams in 2009, and 91 percent resulted in scores of 3 or better.
"We have made known our disappointment with the academic performance," said Neil Bernstein, an emeritus board member of the Baltimore City College Alumni Association, which recently received a briefing from the school system about City's student achievement.
The declines have occurred as each school's funding has been on the rise. Poly's budget increased from $8.2 million in 2008 to $10.8 million last school year. At City, the funding went from $7.4 million to $8.4 million.
Parents say the schools still provide a good education, though they note that a relatively small percentage of the students take the most rigorous classes and work hard to get into the best colleges.
"For the students who are motivated and are willing to put in an effort to get a good education, there are plenty of people in the building who are willing to make sure that happens," said Saul Wilson, a 2010 Poly graduate who is one of four in his class headed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall.
But there are gaps in teacher quality, and beyond the small group of high achievers, most students are left unprepared and floundering in less-demanding classes, critics say.
While some teachers go to great lengths to help students by offering special sessions on weekends or staying late after school, others do not assign homework or are absent too often, said Jane Murphy, the parent of a student at Poly.
"I know there are issues like this at every school, but there doesn't seem to be any interest in distinguishing between great teachers and not so [great]," Murphy said.
In fact, the departure at the end of the last school year of three of Poly's best teachers, two of whom had been named city Teachers of the Year, was one of the concerns that prompted a meeting between representatives of the Poly community and Alonso. While the teachers left for different reasons, the departures were a jolt.
"The three teachers were among those who chaired committees who were pushing for consistency and rigor," Murphy said. "When they left, it was disheartening to a lot of parents."
Debate over admissions standards
Some declines came about after Alonso decided two years ago to make it more difficult for the schools to kick out students who were not doing well.
Poly's former principal, Barney Wilson, who has been replaced with an interim principal, also made a decision to expand enrollment. The student body grew under his tenure from about 1,300 in 2008 to 1,700 this fall. But allowing more students in and keeping nearly all of them meant that the school had many who were less well prepared.
Faculty, parents and alumni at Poly have been concerned about the declines and have been working on a plan of improvement for the past two years. The plan calls for tightening admissions standards, improving the curriculum and attracting better teachers to the school. No such plan is under way at City.
Santelises said she would consider tightening the admissions policy if Poly were to make such a proposal.
Admission standards are a hot-button issue at both schools. The current criteria require students to obtain a minimum score that takes into account their middle school grades, test scores and school attendance. A student who attended school regularly and got A's without much effort at a low-performing middle school might have the same score as a student who took advanced classes at one of the city's best middle schools.
Many agree that the schools have not done enough to help students who were struggling to catch up, particularly in providing additional support when students were not well prepared by their middle schools.
But Santelises said a lack of preparation should not be an excuse for the schools not being top-notch.
"You don't get to say that the kids you got are broken," she said.
Students who attend City and Poly are still the best the city has to offer, she said.
Dwight S. Taylor, chairman of the Poly Foundation and a 1962 graduate, said, "If we have a rigorous academic program and people want to be part of that, they are going to have to prepare themselves."
Many students do not come prepared for rigorous math and engineering classes, he said. For instance, many city students have not had Algebra I when they enter high school, making it difficult for them to take enough math classes to get to the Advanced Placement calculus and statistics courses that many high-achieving suburban students take before they graduate.
But Delores Costello, executive director of the Ingenuity Project, a Poly program designed to boost science and math achievement, said commitment is at least as important as preparation.
"They have to buy into the idea that they do have to work, they do have to study," she said. "They also have to learn perseverance. We see students who give up."
Costello recruits teachers for the Ingenuity classes at Poly, the most demanding program at the school. She said more needs to be done to draw knowledgeable teachers to the schools.
Santelises believes that students coming in to selective schools need to better understand what course sequences they need to be successful, how to get into a good college and how to obtain financial aid.
Stokes, the City parent, said it is a welcome change that the central administration is focusing more attention on the schools.
"This is the first time that Poly and City are getting a level of scrutiny," she said.
Famous graduates of City and Poly
City College:
William Donald Schaefer: Former mayor of Baltimore went on to become governor of Maryland and state comptroller
Kurt L. Schmoke: Former mayor of Baltimore, now dean of the Howard University School of Law
Benjamin L. Cardin: U.S. senator who also served in the House of Representatives for nearly 20 years
Elijah E. Cummings: Baltimore congressman has served seven terms in the House
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger: Congressman was previously Baltimore County executive
Joseph E. Meyerhoff: City's symphony hall is named after the businessman and philanthropist
Poly:
H.L. Mencken: Journalist who worked for The Sun in the early 20th century and was known as the Sage of Baltimore
Dashiell Hammett: Author of detective novels, including "The Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man"
Clarence M. Mitchell IV: Former state senator, now a radio host on WBAL
Alonzo Decker: Businessman known for innovation while leading Black & Decker, the tool company founded by his father
William 'Billy' Murphy: Former judge of Baltimore Circuit Court now leads his own law firm
Donny Moses: Baltimore detective and police spokesman