Why I Love Baltimore City Schools

I love Baltimore City Schools because of the people in them. You know in my work I have had the great opportunity to get to know folks. I have worked alongside so many people who care about education, who love this city, who have great ideas.

I'm a charter starter.  I've worked for about ten years, along with many great people, to build the best school we can imagine together.  The reason this is important is because we will always have the schools we are imagining.  So, it’s best to imagine intentionally, so you don't accidentally imagine something less.

Because it really does matter, what you set out to do.  And the best way to create a great school, is for the decision makers to be the educators, parents, and students.  This is why I think charter schools are great for helping to push reform in the public school system.  Charters are independently run public schools.  Charter schools have the power to make decisions.  Gone are the days when the school system was the only one who could open a school.  Parents can get together and start a school, teachers can get together and start a school, community folks, businesses.  Anyone with an innovative idea, and a burning desire to see it in action, and the commitment to be held accountable for results.

They say that all the charter schools in Maryland are run by "non-profits", but I can tell you right now that is the wrong word to describe what we do.  Our profit is the success of our students.  We are organized for a social purpose.  And the purpose, the development and facilitation of real student achievement, is so great, so urgent, so filled with possibility, that the profit is called non-profit. Because if we were making dollars with the same heart, the same joy, the same intent: we would be immeasurably rich.

Like I said, I love Baltimore City Schools.