* 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 Harris
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Request to the Mayor - A Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center for West Baltimore
FOR the purpose of urging the Mayor to provide funding for, and to identify a building appropriate to house, a truancy center for West Baltimore using the Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center in East Baltimore as a programmatic and operational model.
Body
Recitals
The Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center (BTAC) at 400 North Caroline Street in East Baltimore has been successful in the providing an interagency collaboration for the delivery of services to address issues that contribute to the alarming truancy rate in the Baltimore City Public School System since it's inception in November of 2003.
Through the Center, the Department of Social Services, the Social Security Administration, the Office of Employment Development, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore City Public School Offices of School Police and Pupil Guidance, the Department of Juvenile Services, and the Housing Authority of Baltimore provided direct services or referred students to Baltimore Rising, the Department of Recreation and Parks, First Call for Help, the Boys and Girls Club for mentoring services, Child Find, Child Protective Services, Job Corps, Maryland Mentoring Partnership, the State's Attorney's Office for Educational Services, and Treatment Resources for Youth.
BTAC has done a commendable job in addressing truancy, and its underlying contributing social issues, among Baltimore City public school students but much remains to be done. As of February 2007, 11,392 students, including 16 year olds who can legally withdraw, missed 20 or more days of school - 5,000 of them were under the age of 16. By March 2007, 11,980 students missed 20 or more days. As of March 2, 2007, the total number of days a systemwide student body of 80,912 reported absent was a dismaying 848,467.
The Alliance for Excellent Education offers evidence that the cost of truancy, which invariably leads to lower educational attainment levels or drop-out, increases the likelihood that individuals, particularly males, will be arrested and/or incarcerated. A study that looked at State prisoners' education levels showed that male inmates were about twice as likely as their counterparts in the general population to not have completed high school or its equivalent, and 4 times as many males in the general population had attended some college or other post secondary classes than those in prison.
The Alliance reports that a 10% increase in the male graduation rate would reduce murder and assault arrest rates by about 20%, motor vehicle theft by 13%, and arson by 8%. Beyond the savings related directly to crime reduction, almost $2.8 billion in additional annual earnings would enter the economy if more students graduated from high school. Using 2004 U.S. Census Current Population Survey data, the Alliance calculates that if an additional 5% of male students not only graduated and also went on to college in the same percentages as current male high school graduates, their average earnings would increase significantly. In Maryland, it is estimated that a 5% increase in male high school graduation would result in annual crime related savings of $160,557,762 and additional earnings of $50,869,458, equaling a total overall benefit to the State economy of $211,427,220.
C.C. Resolution 06-0181 - Informational Hearing - Graduation Rates - Baltimore City Public Schools cites: "Leaving Boys Behind: Public High School Graduation Rates", a report by the Manhattan Institute, that black females in Baltimore graduated at a rate high than white females, at 58% compared to 43%. And although the general perception is that black males are the least likely to finish high school, the study found that both black males and white males had a troubling graduation rate of only 39%, in 2003."
The Maryland State Department of Education refutes those statistics and reports that the graduation rate for Baltimore was 54%, in 2003. It also shows that the graduation rate for black females that year was 62%, with white females graduating at a 52% rate, white males at a 49% rate, and black males at a 45% rate. Regardless of what statistics one accepts, one cannot ignore the fact that in Baltimore, nearly 1/3rd of City adults do not have a high school diploma or a GED. Because, on average, almost 1/2 of public high-school students drop out before reaching the 12th grade, their job prospects are limited. There are 200,000 residents 16 and older who do not have jobs, and 1/2 of Baltimore's adults are not working.
The evidence of the cost to the individual and to society of students not completing their education is overwhelming. It is incumbent on those who have the ability to affect this outcome to take necessary action. The societal and personal benefits of a Westside Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center to our students and our neighborhoods would far outweigh any fiscal costs to Baltimore City's budget.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Mayor is respectfully requested to provide funding for, and to identify a building appropriate to house, a truancy center for West Baltimore using the Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center in East Baltimore as a programmatic and operational model.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the organizations listed in the Planning Department Directory of Community Associations, the Executive Director of the Baltimore Truancy Assessment Center, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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