Frank Patinella

Frank Patinella

Senior Public Policy Advocate

Our children deserve to dream big, but they need resources to back them up.

The Governor and Maryland legislators cannot continue to undervalue the education of Black and Latinx students in Baltimore. Their lives and education matter. They should have adequate devices, internet service, and enough support for learning during the pandemic. And when children go back to school, they should be able to take tests without winter coats on and without missing valuable school time because there is no air conditioning. It is their right, and it is the right thing to do.

This has gone on for decades – far too long. Thousands of families in Baltimore have made big sacrifices to visit Annapolis to advocate for more funding in their schools and for the state to stop cutting their children’s education. No person should have to beg for anything that is guaranteed to them by the state constitution.

This OpEd was originally pubished in the Afro News on February 3, 2021.
Read the full OpEd

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