andres alonso

Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young has tapped Tisha Edwards to lead his Office of Children & Family Success.

By Talia Richman

May 16, 2019

About 20,000 books were delivered to the Baltimore City schools loading dock at North Avenue in March 2013. Then they disappeared.

Former Baltimore City schools CEO Andres Alonso is in the running to become the next superintendent of Los Angeles schools — the nation’s second-largest school system.

Baltimore schools have had to return millions in state funding for building repairs after projects to fix failing heating systems and roofs grew too expensive or took too long.

By Luke Broadwater

Jan 4, 2018

Baltimore City Schools has launched a task force aimed at stemming the loss of students.

By Talia Richman

Dec 21, 2017

An innovative union contract designed to tie pay to performance has given Baltimore City's teachers some of the best salaries in the state, but it is also expensive for the system.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh's chief of staff is leaving the job less than five months after she started. Former acting Baltimore schools CEO Tisha Edwards will depart the administration to become president of BridgeEDU, the mayor's office said Friday.

Jason Botel, a Baltimore education advocate and former charter school leader, is being named a senior White House education advisor, according to Politico.

Baltimore city schools suspended nearly 8,500 students last year — a 25 percent increase — despite several years of effort to reduce the rate of disciplinary removals.

Suspending or expelling very young children for disciplinary reasons is usually counterproductive and often discriminatory

Mayoral control won't improve city schools

Santelises also names first member of her administration

Often the difference between a good schools CEO and a mediocre comes down to fit with the district. Therein lies the basis for the enthusiastic hope engendered by the appointment of Sonja Santelises as the new CEO of the Baltimore city schools. Unlike the departing Gregory Thornton, her strong suit is academic leadership.

The 3rd District, which Robert Curran has held tight since 1995 (when he took over for his brother, Mike, who retired from the City Council after 18 years), is another open seat with plenty of viable candidates. There are nine contenders—eight Democrats and one Green. Of the eight Democrats, four have raised significant money and/or have some name recognition or a political track record. Two have a lot of money and backing.

Baltimore school leadership, already under scrutiny, also faces a challenge from the top candidates for mayor — all of whom say they would seek a stronger role in managing the city's schools.

City schools chief has suffered unusually harsh criticism for issues that he inherited

Joan Hammonds, a longtime Baltimore City teacher who served as executive assistant to the school district's interim CEO, died last week of unknown causes at Good Samaritan Hospital, her son said. She was 65.

By Colin Campbell

Jan 31, 2016

A number of Baltimore City schools were forced to eliminate staff this week following mid-year budget cuts. Nearly 130 staff were left looking for job placements after the school district imposed budget cuts because student enrollments turned out to be lower than estimated before the school year began.

Maryland's performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress assessment — also known as the "Nation's Report Card" — put Maryland student achievement in the middle of the pack of states nationwide.

Outgoing State School Supt. Lillian Lowery leaves Maryland's K-12 schools on track for continued success in an era of rapid change

All Baltimore city schools will open with a leader this year, but there are 90 teaching vacancies that remain.

Baltimore city schools CEO Gregory Thornton has tapped longtime Fox 45 Reporter Karen Parks to head his communications team.

Roughly half of Maryland's kindergartners were deemed ready to tackle a more rigorous curriculum that's being rolled out in schools, according to the results of a new state assessment released Tuesday.

For the past three years, while their peers were sleeping in or on vacation, a group of teenagers from across Baltimore City have converged on Digital Harbor High School with a common goal: to face a challenge.

As the Baltimore school system was running up a $72 million deficit last year — a gap that officials say will force job cuts for the first time in decades — it paid out $46 million in bonuses, overtime pay and accrued leave, pushing the earnings of many of its employees into six figures.

In the first major policy move he's proposed since taking over as CEO in July, Thornton is requiring the principals of more than 30 of the city's struggling schools to follow mandates in areas where the previous administration allowed them to make their own decisions.

The Baltimore school board will vote Tuesday on a $1.3 billion budget that has drawn backlash from schools and lawmakers for its cuts to programs and has led the board to consider a possible overhaul of the district's funding formula as some high schools face up to $450,000 in cuts.

A veteran Baltimore city educator has been appointed to serve as a commissioner on the city school board.

The Baltimore school board approved Tuesday a four-year contract for Gregory Thornton, the Milwaukee administrator introduced last month as the next superintendent of the school system.

Roland Park Country School to open public charter school