The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Baltimore City:
School’s Out?

Jun 25, 2001

Over 30,000 children must return for summer school in Baltimore this summer. That’s almost one of every three students in the public school system.

These students are going to summer school supposedly to learn what they failed to learn during the nine months of the school year.

A noble aim–but there’s a problem. This is Baltimore, where the combination of high heat, high humidity and high pollution gives the area one of the worst "bad air" indexes in the entire country. Almost none of the 180 schools staying open this summer has air conditioning.

The school system does have some air-conditioned rooms, of course–right in the Board of Education’s offices. Undoubtedly, the students would learn better if they took advantage of the good air there.