* 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: Councilmember Mosby
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Informational Hearing - Supporting Efforts to Bring City Year to Baltimore
FOR the purpose of inviting representatives from Baltimore City Public Schools and City Year to appear before the Council to discuss the mission of City Year and the feasibility and logistical requirements of bringing City Year Programming to the Baltimore City Public School System.
body
Recitals
Education is at the foundation of all systemic issues that have blighted our communities. No matter the socio-economic demographic, education is the key to unlock an individual's future of success, and provides avenues that cultivate stronger communities and civic interest.
Baltimore's sustainability starts with our most precious assets, our youth. Over the past few years, we have witnessed positive indicators that highlight productive change in our education system's growth. However, to compete with an ever-changing, highly-technical and skilled global economy, Baltimore must do a better job of preparing our youth for the future. While we celebrate recent gains, such as a steady increase in graduation rates, we must reflect on the dilemma that our recent strides are not enough. We must do more to create innovative programming and resources to provide our children with the basic rights and fundamental skills to succeed.
City Year was founded in 1998 by two Harvard Law roommates who felt strongly that young people could be powerful resources for addressing America's most pressing issues, specifically education. The key focus of City Year's mission was derived from a John Hopkins University comprehensive study that concluded that students who are most at risk of dropping out of school could be identified early as middle school by three warning indicators: attendance, behavior, and course performance. In response, they created an "education-focused, nonprofit organization that united young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-term service to keep students in school and on track for graduation."
Currently, City Year has been implemented in twenty-three cities in the United States, and has successfully served thousands of at-risk youth. The core focus of the organization is to leverage corporate sponsored teams of diverse young adults from around the world to provide a host of programs and services for a period of 10 months. The core teams, or corps, work to improve student attendance, behavior, and course performance in English and math.
In 2010, City Year was able to account for a fifty-five percent (55%) reduction in the number of students who previously had less than ninety percent (90%) school attendance rate. In the same year, City Year impacted ninety percent (90%) of active student participant's core performance literacy scores. Eighty-eight (88%) percent of teachers in a nationwide survey strongly agreed that City Year corps members helped students feel more motivated to learn.
The idea that education is a barometer of a city's strength is not a new concept. However, in many cases, we have been challenged to provide viable opportunities to help ignite the educational interest of our youth, and, as a result, miss several marks to propel them in the direction of lifelong civic involvement. The responsibility of identifying and creating such innovative ways to promote and encourage the importance of education rests with each Council member, the Administration, school system, community, and corporate entities. City Year's program fits perfectly into our intention of building a sustainable future for our great city
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the
Council invites representatives from Baltimore City Public Schools and City Year to appear before the Council to discuss the mission of City Year and the feasibility, and logistical requirements, of bringing City Year Programming to the Baltimore City Public School System.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, City Year, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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