Commentary

The Sun reported this week that the Baltimore City Public School System has employed surveillance software to not only track student activity on school-issued laptops, but to identify children using search terms online that could indicate they’re considering hurting themselves or experiencing a mental health crisis that requires intervention. It certainly sounds like a noble aim. But the execution is problematic, to say the least.

President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda — composed of the $1.2 trillion Senate-passed infrastructure bill plus the Democrat-only $3.5 trillion budget bill — promises historic investments in pre-K, community college, paid family and medical leave, health care, and affordable housing, among other provisions. Congress is currently deciding its fate. As Maryland’s second poorest jurisdiction, Baltimore would benefit enormously from these investments.

The Frederick Board of Aldermen has formalized a new ethics policy that will create a procedure for handling complaints about sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior against the mayor or the board members. It is the quiet ending to the controversy that gripped the city at the beginning of the year, when one alderman took to Facebook to publicize accusations of inappropriate behavior against another.

Mohammed Choudhury began his tenure as state superintendent of schools in July with much good will. Given the widespread criticism heaped on his predecessor, he had nowhere to go but up. But much more was expected. In announcing his appointment, the State Board of Education cited his prior record of “transformative policies and groundbreaking practices that have shattered expectations and raised the bar for staff and students.”

Mohammed Choudhury began his tenure as state superintendent of schools in July with much good will. Given the widespread criticism heaped on his predecessor, he had nowhere to go but up. But much more was expected. In announcing his appointment, the State Board of Education cited his prior record of “transformative policies and groundbreaking practices that have shattered expectations and raised the bar for staff and students.”

As legislators calculate the right balance on how much to spend on infrastructure and clean energy, they should take stock of both the environmental and the economic gains that everyday Americans earn through the transformation to an efficient, clean energy economy. And make no mistake: That the transition is underway, built up from many small projects and successes.

Anyone can be a philanthropist, regardless of income, status or net worth. The origin of the word, philanthropy, perhaps explains it best. Derived from the Greek words, “philos,” meaning loving, and “anthropos,” which means humankind, philanthropy is basically giving of talent, time or finances. It means opportunity, aid and kindness in every sense of the word.

Fifteen years ago, I moved to Annapolis for love of two things: a woman and theater — the Bay Theater to be exact, where I worked for six years as the production manager. I’ve spent my life since here in town as a proud father, baseball coach, and local small business owner. I fell in love with this city during that time. No community has ever embraced me as this one has, and I’ll die here.

Every week, it seems, we are hit with yet another headline outlining the latest examples of corruption in the Baltimore City Public School System, which has been failing a tragically large swath of Baltimore’s children for generations. But there is another party just as culpable in this school system’s fraud and failure: the Maryland General Assembly. The General Assembly’s willful blindness to the multitude of problems facing Baltimore City public schools is only surpassed by its unwillingness to act decisively to address issues while simultaneously blocking the efforts of any other agency or body to step in.