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Most of our traditional public schools do a good job educating our children. But there are large pockets where schools are seriously failing our kids, and have been for years. Most of these schools are located in neighborhoods of lower-income families. Here's a vivid reminder of what these children are facing, day after day, year after year. Below are the headlines from just a few of the stories that have appeared in the press over the last three years:

'He wasn't educated properly': Baltimore City High Schooler Reads at Third-Grade Level

 6 MONTHS AGO

We've talked enough about the problems. Now let's look at what each individual, each concerned parent, and each dissatisfied teacher, can do.

. . . so that our children never have to face this again!

The single most effective cure for getting kids out of failing schools and giving them a chance to succeed educationally is to give parents the ability to get their kids out of these failing schools and into a school that has shown the ability to educate its students.

Parents deserve school choice. In the name of EQUITY, low-income families deserve the same opportunity and right to move their children into better schools as high-income parents have!

Parents need to have a portion of the taxes we pay for education able to go with the child.

Where would they go?

Right now, there are a number of Charter Schools in Maryland, 38 of them in Baltimore City. Charter Schools are "public" schools, but with a little more flexibility. All children are able to apply to go to a charter school of their choice! Except! There is no room.

Admittance to a charter school is done by lottery. Those children not lucky enough to win the lottery go on a waitlist. Waitlists in some of the best charter run between 200-600 students.

Think about that! Here we have literally thousands of children consigned to schools that demonstrably fail to educate them, year after year. Better schools exist -- but not for them. Because the State refuses to sanction Charter Schools as a viable option.

The best brands of Charter School providers won't even bother to apply here anymore because the likelihood of obtaining a charter is so low. So, here is the first thing we have to do:

modify our Charter Law along the lines of the D.C. law so that it encourages Charter School providers to come to Maryland rather than discourages them.

The state of Maryland enacted the BOOST (Broadening Options & Opportunities for Students Today) Scholarship Program in 2016 to give K-12 students from lower-income Maryland families an opportunity to find the best educational fit for their needs by providing scholarships for their children to attend a nonpublic school. This puts more options within reach for Maryland families and children, particularly those who are most in need.

...............* The bill should include a goal of attracting a certain number of

................. new charter schools within a certain number of years,

...............*Dramatically increase the funding for BOOST from the $10

................ million in the Governor's Budget to at least $50 million

................ within two years

Believe it or not, your voice does matter in this process, and the only way to make a difference is by using it to advocate for the issues you care about. There are so many ways you can communicate with your legislators, there's something for everyone.

HB 894 serves as a 22-page "manual" on how the Teachers Union can organize employees of community colleges to form a union. It's not the employees who decide among themselves to organize; it is the work of the powerful teachers unions who come in and "sell" the idea to the employees, who are often surprised to learn that they can no longer go directly to their supervisor or manager to handle their personal needs. A union contract is meant to spell out the rules and everyone must follow them. And like the contract or not, members are expected to pay dues as soon as an agreement is reached.

The most devastating provision in the bill prohibits an employer from using state funds and facilities for the purpose of influencing employees to support or oppose unionization. In other words, the Community College's President and everyone in the administration must stand mute while the union is given access to the most personal information about each employee, as well as unfettered access to the employees themselves.

This provision is not only unfair, it is unlawful. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that this provision has been pre-empted by Congress which " "struck a balance of protection, prohibition, and laissez-faire." No state The "States have no more authority than the [National Labor Relations] Board to upset the balance that Congress has struck between labor and management. ”

The virtual public school proposed in this bill would be only online and limited to no more than 1% of the student populations of each county (and Baltimore City). The state will fund the school pursuant to a formula set out in the bill, and these schools will be exempt from certain state regulations that are less compatible with a totally virtual learning environment, such as regulations relating to attendance, curriculum, class size, instruction, staffing ratios, professional development, and textbooks.

Please EMAIL your applications to Trent.Kittleman@House.State.MD.US