In a tough West Baltimore neighborhood, the sprawling Calverton Middle School had no library for two years. The Arnett Brown Middle School in Cherry Hill had only 15 outdated microscopes until a state grant paid for new ones last year. And in Furman Templeton Elementary School, not far from some of the city's biggest drug markets, nearly all the children are poor enough to qualify for free lunches.
These are the three schools targeted for state-ordered reform yesterday.
The announcement has school administration officials on the defensive and principals wondering how the state can pass judgment on schools with so few resources and with such disadvantaged students.
At Calverton Middle School, in West Baltimore, Principal Earl A. Lee said he faces the typical problems of educating inner-city children who come from families where drug abuse and unemployment are common and where many children change schools two or three times a year as their families are evicted from rented homes. (State figures show about a quarter of Calverton's enrollment turns over each year.)
"We are going to have to address these problems before we can make a drastic change in the schools. These factors should be considered before just looking at test scores," he said.
Many of his students -- packed into classes of 38 -- are "not able to focus on how education can benefit them in the future. TV and video games drive their entire life," he said.
The school has a full-time school police officer and a new electronic security system to "buzz in" visitors.
A five-year private foundation grant -- of $72,000 a year -- recently helped train teachers and send students on field trips, he said.
It also allowed Mr. Lee to restock and reopen the library two years ago. The new librarian, Dana Johnson, said she was able to replace the "prehistoric" encyclopedias from 30 years ago and purchase other books.
While the library is now bright, the hallways that lead to it have insulation peeling off the ceiling pipes. "I could install ceiling tiles, but these kids are so active and tall they would just knock them out," Mr. Lee said.
At Arnett Brown Middle School, principal Reginald Turner is angry the state wants to order reforms for his school when it is already is a "Challenge School" as part of a related state program for schools with low achievement. The state has given the school more than half a million dollars last year and this year.
The money enabled the school to buy 30 microscopes and 100 computers. The computers weren't up and running until last November -- not enough time to have an impact on the test scores used by the state as evidence that a "reconstitution" is necessary.
At Templeton Elementary School, in the Upton neighborhood just west of downtown, parents wondered yesterday why the state wants to take charge of the school they believe is giving their children a good education.
Principal Carolyn Blackwell said 99.7 percent of the school's 504 students are poor enough to qualify for a free lunch.
"I like the school a a lot, said Mary Ward, who works in the cafeteria, has two children at the school and is one of the volunteer parents who work in the classrooms.
Not a single third-grader at the school passed the new state performance tests for reading, math, social studies, writing or language usage last year.
Although she said parents are concerned about the school's overall test scores, her daughter is reading well in the first grade.
"I'm very proud of that," she said.