May 24th Teachers Town Hall Meeting 5pm-7pm Baltimore Design School

Baltimore, MD, May 05, 2017 --(PR.com)-- BTN, a Baltimore based charter school operator and WBAL will sponsor a Community Town Hall Meeting focused on the recent deficit of Baltimore City Public Schools and discuss ways to fund public education moving forward.

WBAL’s anchor Tim Tooten will moderate what promises to be an interesting discussion between panelists and school teachers from around the district. Panelists include State Legislators, members of the Baltimore City Council, Baltimore Teacher Union representative, members of BCPS Board of School Commissioners, Dr. Santelises, and several other key stakeholders.

The overall purpose of this Town Hall meeting is to better understand how BCPS arrived at a $130 Million deficit and explore how we fund public schools in the future. A look at the expected recommendations of the recent Kirwan commission report suggest that the state look at that redistribution of state aid to schools as one possible solution to the funding gap. However in a January 9, 2017 letter to the Governor and State Legislators, Mr. Kirwan stated that, "this letter makes no recommendations for actions."

Other suggestions from leaders in and out of the public arena suggest the need to increase City and State revenue by imposing new taxes especially dedicated to schools.

Parents and Teachers are very concerned about the future of education in this city as they are still faced with the potential of several hundred BCPS staff being laid off despite recent City and State commitments to address the district’s deficit. However, the funding gap is still not closed. The commitments of the City and State amounts of $180 million over a three year period equates to $60 million a year. The current deficit is $130 million. Many questions are still left unanswered but participants in and this Town Hall are looking for answers.