Holy Cross Education Professor on Baltimore’s Newest Measure to Confront the ‘Education Debt’

Last week the Baltimore, Maryland school board approved new funding guidelines based on poverty rates, rather than test scores, in the hopes of alleviating the ‘education debt.’ Holy Cross assistant education professor Jack Schneider explains: “Not every student is equally ready to learn, and that is a result of social and economic history in the United States. Students who have been historically marginalized are going to come into school less privileged, and less advantaged. Therefore, it’s important to invest more in those students if the goal is to produce equal educational outcomes.”

Equally crucial to solving the ‘education debt’ is understanding the home and neighborhood each student comes from, according to Schneider. “It truly depends on the place, it depends on what kind of support students are coming into school with. Students getting educated in Baltimore often do not have the same at home or neighborhood supports that other students have.”

Listen to the complete interview at Marketplace.org.

Schneider also recently commented on the funding debate for socially and economically disadvantaged students across the country in an article by the Atlantic.