My son attended Digital Harbor HS in Fed Hill. I found it interesting that even though the neighborhood is 75% white, the school was closer to 75% African American. It was a decent school, though not perfect, but his teachers were involved and made efforts to ensure the students remained engaged. Like my son, it appears most of that school’s students are from other parts of town.

My working theory, which this admittedly small data point supports, is that those who can afford it will either send their children to private schools or move to the suburbs once they’re able to, perhaps moving back once their children are grown. The school he attended in AACO wasn’t any better, actually, but was in a highly rated district by GreatSchools. His best educational foundation came from when we were stationed in Hawaii and he attended local schools, which were also rated by GS as about the same as most of Baltimore’s.

Here’s the thing: good schooling is a combination of the school’s resources, the teachers’ abilities, and most importantly, parental involvement. If their parents aren’t involved, the kid is less likely to be engaged and will learn nothing even if they graduate from an Ivy League school. See our last president for example.

One problem in Hawaii, which I suspect Baltimore may also have, is a feeling by many that education was less important than getting a job to support one’s own less affluent family; after all, it was very difficult to rise into the middle class there without connections or money. So why bother when putting food on the table today is most important?

I’m fortunate that my son didn’t have to work while he was in high school and I even had him quit his job when it began to affect his grades and attendance, but not every family has this luxury.

So I think part of the solution for Baltimore is, how can we stress the importance of education to our own residents, and get the community involved in its own education? How can we incentivize higher performance in school as a long term investment in our own children? For some, that may require better government efforts at eliminating poverty and supporting struggling middle class families.