How Baltimore Students Got Left in the Cold

As many as 60 of Baltimore public schools—one-third of the city’s total—went without sufficient heat this week. As the entire school system shut down on Thursday and Friday due to plunging temperatures, social media filled with photos and video of children shivering, wearing jackets, and gloves. Dennis Morgan, a senior at Frederick Douglass High School, told NPR he was freezing on Wednesday morning. “As of now, I have on four shirts, two hoodies, and a jacket," he said.

Outrage ensued. City and state lawmakers launched a barrage of finger-pointing over responsibility. A college student started a GoFundMe campaign to purchase space heaters, collecting more than $70,000, so far. Meanwhile, city schools CEO Sonja Santelises took to Facebook on Wednesday with her press spokeswoman to parry calls to shut down the whole system for repairs, and to redirect the public fury away from the current school administration. “We also need to go a level deeper and see all of the levers that are impacting the state of education for black and brown children,” Santelises said. “There is a history of underfunding.”