* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmembers Henry and Clarke
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Fully Funding Baltimore City Public Schools' International Baccalaureate and Ingenuity Project Programs
FOR the purpose of calling on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners to ensure that the school system's International Baccalaureate and Ingenuity Project programs are fully funded so that as many of our children as possible can take advantage of these challenging programs that open countless doors for their participants.
body
Recitals
Recent media reports indicate that, despite the recommendations of school officials and parent groups, the School Board is planning to cut funding for public school programs that challenge and motivate some of our community's most talented young people to achieve up to their potential. Funding for these programs has been on the decline for years, and if they are cut further reports indicate that eligible students may be turned away and some programs may have to cease functioning altogether.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) and Ingenuity Project programs threatened once again with cuts do a tremendous job of preparing students for college and future success in their lives beyond. For many students, the programs open doors that allow them to become the first in their families to attend college. 95 percent of Ingenuity Project graduates go on to four year colleges, with 90 percent graduating in four years. Both programs enhance students' abilities to gain not only admission to selective schools, but the scholarship support to pay for those schools that is so essential to many first generation college students.
These programs are a bright spot in a system that is often criticized as overly focused on testing. Their diverse curriculums and hands-on approach to learning provide the same opportunities to the City's public school students as are enjoyed by students in elite, and, for many, unaffordable, area private schools. And when our students are given these same opportunities as their private school counterparts, they have proven they are able to achieve on the same level. For instance, City College International Baccalaureate candidates are able to earn the IB Diploma at roughly the same rate as their private school counterparts.
The success of the students involved in the IB and Ingenuity programs benefits all of us by empowering our young people, as well as the communities they will return to after college, to improve themselves and the city around them. It offers hope for a better life to those who cannot afford private high schools or elite colleges. And it provides families struggling with the decision of where to live to give their children the best opportunities one more reason to remain invested in Baltimore City. These are the types of programs that should be expanded, not contracted, if we truly want to make Baltimore a better place for ourselves and future generations. Failing to fund them at a level that allows as many students as possible to participate would be a huge missed opportunity for our city.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Council calls on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners to ensure that the school system's International Baccalaureate and Ingenuity Project programs are fully funded so that as many of our children as possible can take advantage of these challenging programs that open countless doors for their participants.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Chair of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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