* 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 Clarke
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
School Based Budgets for the Baltimore City School System
FOR the purpose of requesting a public meeting in February with the Board and CEO of the BCPSS to discuss the progress being made in producing a FY 2009 operational budget that is school-based, transparent, reliable, and understandable to families, students, teachers, principals, elected officials, and the City of Baltimore as a whole.
Body
WHEREAS, The annual operating budget for the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) is a crucial document for families, students, teachers, principals, elected officials, and the entire City of Baltimore to clearly understand; and
WHEREAS, The most important issue for interested parties is how much of the total budget is being invested directly in the schools and, most specifically, in each individual school throughout the system; and
WHEREAS, A generalized budget of non-locational expenditures fails the "transparency test" by failing to clearly delineate the percentage of dollars allocated to the schools themselves as compared with the percentage allocated to non-school-based administrative functions; and
WHEREAS, That same generalized budget format fails the "reliability test" by failing to serve as the system's commitment to the staffing, resources, equipment, security, and thoughtful planning upon which individual schools and their communities have every right to rely each spring, at the time the BCPSS budget as a whole is adopted for the following school year; and
WHEREAS, In the current budget situation, our principals and their SIT teams lack the budget knowledge and security to exercise the planning authority required to assume school-based responsibility for the success of their schools; and
WHEREAS, The Baltimore City Council and its Education Committee have consistently urged that the BCPSS budget for fiscal year 2009 be built from the schools up, with a budget display for each school within the system and with a separate category for non-locational administrative functions; and
WHEREAS, The City Council and Education Committee have also consistently urged that the BCPSS budget format represent a useful tool that interested parties can readily understand and rely on in questioning, testifying, and supporting the individual schools their children attend.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore City Council and its Education Committee do hereby request a public meeting in February with the Board and CEO of the BCPSS to discuss the progress being made in producing a FY 2009 operational budget that is school-based, transparent, reliable, and understandable to families, students, teachers, principals, elected officials and the City of Baltimore as a whole.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to by way of information and invitation, to President Brian Morris and all members of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, to CEO Andres Alonso, and to the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the Baltimore City Council.
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