When It's Too Cold For School

As temperatures dropped into the teens in Baltimore this week, the city’s public schools became the focus of national outrage: Images of kids in parkas huddled together for warmth in city classrooms quickly went viral. Sixty public schools—about a third of Baltimore’s system—reported problems with heating, prompting the city to close all schools on Thursday and Friday.

Baltimore has a reputation for poor infrastructure and deprivation when it comes to K-12 education. A 2016 study, for instance, showed that the city would need an extra $358 million annually to adequately fund its schools. Yet the city’s hardly alone in its resource woes: Tax cuts and relentless efforts to reduce costs have left urban public schools across the country strapped for cash, with similarly decrepit infrastructure as a result.