Baltimore students march for equal education

Several hundred high-school students and their supporters marched in downtown Baltimore May 17, from the harbor to the nearby school board, to demand an end to unequal funding and abysmal conditions in city schools. Later they faced arrest.

Students demand more teachers, more classes.

The students shouted, “Arrest Gov. Erh lich,” and, “Arrest Nancy Grasmick!” They also chanted, “We don’t want your racist Iraq war.”

Members of the Baltimore Teachers Union, Service Employees-1199 and the All Peoples Congress also marched with the students.

When the students arrived at the State Board of Education, scores of police formed a line between marchers and the building.

Several students who had planned to participate in civil disobedience, along with a teacher and a community representative, crossed the street and slipped behind police lines. Police had quickly locked doors to the building. The group refused to leave and instead began to poster the building with “Wanted” posters with the pictures of the governor, mayor and superintendent of schools. The posters charge them with “failure to pay child support.”

Steven Ceci, a union and community organizer with the All Peoples Congress who was also a participant with the students, said: “The students who are risking arrest are very brave. The youngest of our group is 13 years old. The reason for this action is because the schools are so horrible—overcrowded classrooms, lead in the drinking water, the students don’t even have toilet paper.”

For about 20 minutes the group faced off against police, who were obviously angry but who also refused to arrest the group. Two police officers grabbed both Ceci and Jay Gillian, a teacher and adviser for the Algebra Project. They twisted Ceci’s arm and pushed Gillian.

Despite the intimidation, students continued to tape posters on the Board of Education building and surrounding poles.

The group returned to a cheering crowd of supporters.

The march itself was called to coincide with the 51st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Edu cation ruling, which ordered an end to school segregation. A coalition of groups led by the Algebra Project, a group of young students, has been fighting to force the state to abide by a court ruling that would give equal funding to Baltimore city schools. City schools receive less than the surrounding counties, which are more affluent.

Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich has ignored court orders. Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley has also been silent on the issue. The court had ordered $225 million additional spending on Baltimore schools every year.

The Algebra Project, Baltimore Edu cation Advocates, All Peoples Con gress, Council of PTA’s Parent-Commu nity Advisory Board, Generations for Peace and Democracy, Green Party, SEIU-1199, and others called the May 17 action.