Many of Baltimore's other low-income communities share the same dubious distinction. Further number-crunching by City Paper showed that 94 percent of those uncertified teachers serve communities that are disproportionately poor. The findings have sparked intense debate among those with the biggest stake in Baltimore's public schools. Parents worry that their children aren't learning. Seasoned teachers complain they have to compensate for novice colleagues' shortcomings.
Uncertified instructors contend they're just the latest scapegoat for the system's many ills.
Meanwhile, school officials are scrambling to offer explanations and solutions, even as they acknowledge that the disparity will likely persist well into Baltimore's future. Ted Thornton, the school system's director of human resources, says the problem dates back over several years of mounting vacancies and increases in the number of teachers the system had to hire just to get schools open every fall. Initially there was no limit on how long they could take, but in 1999 the state passed a law setting the time frame at four years. Thornton says the main culprit for that is high turnover. The city loses some 240 teachers a year to surrounding counties, and what until recently were lower wages than its neighbors paid has made it hard for Baltimore to compete for trained educators to fill the vacancies.