June 11, 2002 - Baltimore City Public Schools

Board Meeting Minutes
with parents and community and their staff in creating an innovation model there of grades 6 through
12, with an arts curriculum focus. And that's been in the works for a while. I guess Ms. Murphy says it's
not fast enough, in terms of the actual facility planning to support that. So I need to temper my
exuberance for trying out new ideas with making sure that we're not taking away from who our main
reform effort. And, also, that we're doing an adequate job of planning and working with this community.
And just even at the very beginning, when we started hearing this a month or two ago, that a full
proposal. You know, that, as far as the communities that have the new schools, it's just not sufficient to
put a school in place for September, in terms of what we believe is adequate planning and preparation
with the space. You're working with the 265 students and parents who are interested in your three
elementary schools. But we need to also think about parents that are also part of that larger community
at those two middle schools. So that's why with reluctance, given the enthusiasm and the tremendous
excitement that's been created among the parents and students which criticized the vote in support of our
CEO's recommendation. I do hope, however, that two things -- you know, one is that we do take up, and
there's a thought for you to build a partnership with us. And we look forward to meeting soon and
exploring this whole range of opportunities that improve collaboration, where we can really benefit in
the greatest way, what they're trying out. But we might want to for the large system. So we welcome that
offer. I hope you don't take tonight's vote as saying there's no interest in collaborating with us. At least
my perspective. And, secondly, your CEO's -- an important part of the recommendation, to me, was
working with the parents. You've done such a wonderful job of getting them excited. We're hoping to
take advantage and learn from that excitement, so that we can use that as a model for every school. I
think it's terrific. I would like to see it as much as possible in a constructive way so we're not worried
about everything. And we do accept people saying that point of view. But I do hope that we can take
advantage of the offer. Let's not close the partnership, and have a constructive relationship. And I do
have -- am very supportive of our CEO's interest in building on this ground interest.
MS. WELCH: Commissioner Jones?
MR. JONES: I'd like to make some comments about the relationship that we've had with Edison over
the past two years. If the Edison Schools wanted to become partners with us, they've had two years to do
it, and that, instead, they decided not to. In fact, now that we're in the effort to develop a partnership,
people were coming to see us and not being from Baltimore Edison Schools. They're from out of town,
from headquarters, from development. Instead, I got a clear sense that the Edison Schools have seen the
city as an adversary. They've not been a partner, and clearly haven't wanted to be. There had not been
cooperation on hiring staff, for instance. We've had -- been going back and forth about trying to get the
best teachers into their System, or our System. No net contribution to the City of Baltimore at all. It's a
zero-something game. Being granted city-wide status so that they could recruit the best students in the
school, and then turn back around, and the difficult, more extensive students they have given back to us,
or attempted to give back. Literally told children "go back to BCPSS." We don't see those parents in
here raving about Edison Schools. So we do have a long history. And it has played an innovative role in
developing a partnership with other people. But I guess I have to say that we have a long way to go in
order to turn around our current relationship with Edison, from what it has been in the last two years
forward. True partnership for all of the children of the City of Baltimore; not their scores versus our
scores.
MS. WELCH: Commission Murphy?
Page 36 of 41
MS. MURPHY: Yes. I just have an announcement. That the Eubie Blake Center has a partnership with
Booker T. this summer. And we have an arts and mathematics program that's going to be activity-based
during the summer school hours for five weeks. Many of the persons who will be teachers will be
teachers who will be in Booker T. in the fall. So it is an opportunity for some of our -- some of the
Edison children who are maybe interested in attending this program to meet some of these teachers and
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