Page 1 of 19

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 8

Publication Date: August 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.108.15435.

Anucha, H. (2023). Education Leadership: Legal and Social Impacts of Public Schools Leadership and Management on the City of

Baltimore Maryland, United States of America. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(8). 377-395.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Education Leadership: Legal and Social Impacts of Public Schools

Leadership and Management on the City of Baltimore Maryland,

United States of America

Hyacinth Anucha

Department of Educational Leadership, Bowie State University

and Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the correlation between per student expenditure and academic

achievement, examining legal issues, poverty, and crime as chronic factors

impacting low academic performance as parents’ legal actions against the City

School Board of Commissioners question the effectiveness of public-school

spending. Ineffective leadership, mismanagement, poverty, and crime contribute to

subpar performance, necessitating new strategies for learning, teaching, and

meeting high academic standards. The Baltimore City public school system has

faced challenges in academic achievement, poverty, and crime over the past

decades. Maryland's Blueprint for the Future and meta research emphasize the

importance of effective leadership and quality education to enhance student

achievement, socioeconomic growth, and reduce crime. The present research

analyzed various factors influencing public school performance, including per

teacher and pupil expenditure, while correlating SAT and ACT scores with academic

improvement in Baltimore City, Maryland. Besides, it is declared that effective

educational leadership is imperative in a data driven culture whose challenges lie

not in advanced technology itself but rather in the transformation of repressive

cultures, teams, and practices.

Keywords: Educational Leadership, Baltimore City, Public School Performance,

Educational Legal Issues, and Social Economic Factors

ARGUMENTS ADVANCED AND CLAIMS OF SIGNIFICANCE

The critical role of education is to intentionally advance and enlighten society by employing

scientific methods to tackle human issues, while educational leadership must skillfully adjust

to the 21st century's technological, legal, and societal shifts. Moreover, by effectively

implementing systemic innovative strategies, educational institutions can enhance access to

quality education and achieve high academic standards, while also addressing and disrupting

the "school-to-prison pipeline" disproportionately affecting Black and Brown children, a

concept identified as a "symbiotic relationship" between schools and the court systems

(Marder, 2022, p.1).

INTRODUCTION

Educational Leadership has an inescapable responsibility to enable citizens and school systems

to be better than we are, always modifying capitalized form of life intelligence, and habits of

Page 2 of 19

378

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 8, August-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

discipline to recognize and communicate truth in any community. Citizens of Baltimore,

Maryland have been debating over the past few years whether there is significant relationship

between per pupil expenditure and the academic achievement in the public school’s system.

Parents, educational leaders, activists, local officials, psychologists have engaged in the on- going debate over education and its role in the face of Baltimore’s increasing crime rate and

fluctuating poverty. Currently, Baltimore ranks third in violent crimes in the nation. In spite of

huge expenditure per capita, a good number of students registering effective academic success

within the Baltimore public school’s system many have been largely left behind (Brookings.

2023). Additionally, several students often fall short of yearly advancement tests and

standardized tests such as the SAT. Educational leadership needs to ensure that each child is

provided the appropriate nurturing environment to thrive. Behind the façade of no child left

behind, is the reality of educational failure for the Black and Brown students in a school system

that ought to be productive with expected outcomes. Presently, there is a huge knowledge gap

between academic success and expected educational outcomes in the Baltimore City Public

Schools System. Now the question is, is there any significant association between

socioeconomic factors and the public school’s academic performance in Baltimore city?

Fundamentally, it is believed that that truly liberal education has a vital and ever renewing role

to play in modern societies, even in the face of continuing critical and legal glances some of the

school districts and institutions are experiencing. Parents and community members however

are presenting conflicting truths as expenditures are increasing while teaching and learning are

decreasing, bemoaning the misfortune, parents in Baltimore Maryland feel that degradation has

overtaken the minds of the children in the city that reads (Alvarez, 2016). Though it is assumed

that some giant abstractions cause the particular evils and power politics of the district school

board, and pernicious counter culture of crime impacting the economic and intellectual culture

and values espoused by the youthful citizens that are achieving lower scores on the SAT and

ACT examinations, a badge of dishonor compared to the gigantic amounts of per pupil

expenditure in the Baltimore School System. This study manages to give the designations the

truth regarding the heart of the matter in high per pupil expenditure and degrading academic

achievement and elevated crime rate.

Current gauges of college and career readiness tend to focus on academic preparation and

achievement, but evidence shows that success in school and the workplace is dependent on

multiple aspects in addition to academic ability. Using ACT research, the ACT Holistic

Framework provides four domains (core academic skills, cross cutting capabilities, behavioral

skills, and education and career navigation) that most effectively predict and prepare

someone's college and career readiness (ACT, 2020, p. i). Students and employees can use this

framework as a map to track themselves along their journey to becoming college and career

ready. Teachers and employers can use this framework to identify times of intervention or

manage additional support for their students or employees. The city that was given exceptional

prominence in pioneering first class education partly because we have in the school districts

educational paradigm that operates its complex administration, constructively impacts the

economy, and satisfies most of its cultural needs without the claim of typically inadequacies

and derogatory performance is now been questioned about effective performance, with

increased crime rate bounded by poverty, and in need of improved academic standards. This

study reviews new approaches to educational administration, and the twine needs of

maintaining structure, theoretical perspectives, impacting the socioeconomic, and the ability of

Page 3 of 19

379

Anucha, H. (2023). Education Leadership: Legal and Social Impacts of Public Schools Leadership and Management on the City of Baltimore Maryland,

United States of America. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(8). 377-395.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.108.15435

educational leadership to meaningfully understand their hegemonic roles in invaluable human

affairs in favour of the development of culturally relevant approaches that build on mutually

evolving irreducible features of human life, culture, and participatory democratic principles

free of radical politics (Uwakonye et al., 2020; Foster, 1986).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The current state of public-school education is characterized by poor student performance and

the school-to-prison pipeline, raising doubts about the effectiveness and worth of the

educational system. Despite increasing expenditure, student performance and academic

achievement are declining. The system's credibility and values are under intense scrutiny, as

reliance solely on the legal system for determining these values becomes impractical due to

rising costs. The Baltimore city public school’s system aims to provide high-quality education

for all students, but there is a concerning decline in the number of teachers completing

preparation programs, especially in areas affected by poverty, socioeconomic factors, crime,

and low academic achievement (Maryland State Board of Education [MSBE], 2022).

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between per-student expenditure

and academic achievement in the Baltimore city public school’s system, while taking into

account the impact of persistent socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and crime, which are

known to significantly affect low academic performance. Furthermore, the study aimed to

assess educational outcomes and evaluate the efficiency of public-school spending.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Baltimore city has maintained a distinctive and diverse culture that has attracted people from

various parts of the world over the years. Despite its influence, this city has faced challenges

in achieving satisfactory academic outcomes for its inner-city students, primarily due to high

poverty and crime rates, as well as rising per-student expenditure. Bowie (2021, p.1) declared

that about 65% of secondary students and 50% of elementary students in the system are

failing at least one class, according to the school system. Besides, to hold pupils back would

go against current education research that indicates students have better enduring academic

success when they are given effective support.

Subsequent, Chen (2022, p.1), declared that while there are no immediate obvious solutions

for students who are struggling academically, meta research seems to point to a whole new

approach to keeping these students from falling through the academic cracks in our public

education system. Following the pandemic, Baltimore school leaders did not hold back tens

of thousands of students failing classes the 2020-2021 school year rather provided academic

support and additional time while customizing instruction plans to make up gaps in their

learning (Bowie, 2021, p.1). Students were tested in the subsequent fall term to determine

what skills they have missed and the schools created a plan for individual student designed

to close the learning gasp where they existed, and subsequently, adjusted their grades.

Consequently, more than 12,500 grades were changed from failing to passing at the high

schools (Marder, 2022. p.1). It appears clear and the time has come for transformational

leadership, innovation, and creativity to be integrated to improve learning and achieve high

academic standards.