Baltimore Public Schools: 'Duking the Stats'

Having watched the early stages of Season 4 of The Wire, the public school system seems, at first glance, to be afforded a different treatment than many of the other institutions so blasted by David Simon.

‘Bunnie’ Colvin is participating in a project to provide specific assistance to the ‘street kids’ who need it most; while some teachers are apathetic, others are still motivated and go the extra mile to help their pupils (for example, when Roland Pryzbylewski gives Dukie food for his lunch, and offers to wash his clothes everyday); and while many of the pupils are rowdy and disruptive, there are still a number who participate in the classes and attempt to participate.

This blog piece will look at the role Dr. Andres Alonso has played in the past few years since he took office as superintendent of Baltimore City Public Schools, as well as a number of other policy actors from the public and private sectors.  

With eight out of the top 100 worst high schools in the USA, Dr. Alonso was faced with a daunting challenge. Positive changes do seem to have occurred since his appointment in 2007, yet as will be discussed, Simon might be highly critical of the invocation of ‘duking facts and figures’ as a way to measure this success.

Concurrent bills in the House and Senate committees this week will focus on ensuring pre-kindergarten access for all 4-year olds in the city, focus on ensuring pre-kindergarten access for all 4 year-olds in the city, sponsored in large part by PNC Bank who, through their ‘Grow Up Great’ initiative, are also investing in teacher training and high school facilities. 

Prior to the schemes introduced by Dr. Alonso, just 35% of Baltimore’s students received high-school diplomas. This was largely due to the high rate of expulsions and suspensions. Down from around 12.5%, now only 7% of Baltimore's students were suspended or expelled in the past year.

However, a decrease in the number of expelled students does not necessarily mean that standards of education, or even behavior, are better. With Dr. Alonso arguing that 'you can't suspend the kids like that', all that this necessarily proves is that a change in mindset has occurred, where kids are kept in the classroom rather than kicked out. This is, in a sense, ‘duking the statistics’ to produce a positive headline and narrative for one’s political masters, in the same way the Baltimore Police Department do in The Wire for Mayor Clarence Royce.

Blurring Good and Bad: 'Little' Melvin Williams

David Simon is renowned for blurring the lines of morality between good and bad; giving ‘good guys’, like McNulty, a ‘rough’ womanizing and alcohol-abusing edge. Equally, the ‘bad guys’, like Avon Barksdale, have a ‘good’ side, caring about community involvement. A magisterial and subtle tour de force, Simons takes this a step further by involving real-life criminals in the production of The Wire.

Little Melvin Williams is a classic example of this. Playing ‘The Deacon’ in The Wire, his character is a religious leader in the community, trying to bring about positive change and offering an alternative source of action from the official City authorities, for example in supporting the development of Cutty’s boxing gym.

Yet, in real life, Little Melvin Williams is an exceptionally controversial individual. A major drugs player in Baltimore for many years, akin to the fictional Avon Barksdale, he was eventually sentenced to 22 years in prison in late 2000. Serving just three of those years, he was then invited by Simon to play the role of The Deacon. Simon had previously written extensively on Williams while still a reporter at the Baltimore Sun.

However, some have claimed that Little Melvin’s miraculous transformation from kingpin to law-abiding citizen is not as it seems.

Writing in 2008, in Baltimore City Paper, Van Smith accuses Wiliams of still being involved in illegal gambling rackets and drug dealing. Williams, unsurprisingly, boots the reporter out of his warehouse in fury.

Melvin William’s involvement in The Wire helps make it the incredible show that it is. He undoubtedly adds authenticity, and, although subtly, further adds to Simon’s argument that the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is not always clear.