Better Off Truant?
For generations, American politicians and experts have lamented the dropout crisis. They warn that quitting school leads students to poverty, prison, and discontent. For many Baltimore schoolchildren, however, recent test results show leaving school might be their best option—or at least, it wouldn’t hurt.
Last year, Baltimore’s public schools spent $22,000 per student, a record figure slated to rise over the next decade under the state’s $30 billion education-spending plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. City schools have also raked in $799 million in Covid relief.
