Your Support At Work

Thank you to all who took the time to call, fax and email in support of New Song today. We had a press conference and a crowd of people out front (look for us in the Sun and on Channel 2). Studnets, parents, teachers and other supporters all put their voices together. Here are some of the things we are saying:

Dear Mr. Mayor,

I am writing in regards to the school New Song Academy which is located here
in our community of Sandtown-Winchester.

As fellow community service provider, we at Martha's Place (a recovery
facility established in 2000 for women overcoming drug addiction -
www.marthasplace.org) have been aware of the ongoing challenges that New
Song Academy faces each year in order to meet their operating budget. As a
partner with New Song Academy in efforts to revitalize our community, we
have seen first hand the excellent education they provide for our children.
We believe that New Song Academy provides a level of education which
children in our community have been denied for too long because of the
multiple complexities of public education in our city for many years.

As New Song Academy finds itself facing the crisis of obtaining necessary
funding to continue its operation we write to support their requests for
funding from Baltimore City's Public School System. Furthermore, we feel
that if Baltimore City is going to demand that the Baltimore Public School
System be given continued authority over the failing schools, it must also
demand that they be held accountable for sustaining successful schools like
New Song Academy.

New Song Academy's budget has been cut by 26% over the past 3 years, all
while acheiving the designated "Adequate Yearly Progress" according to the
state and federal guidelines set up for successful schools. PLEASE, adopt
the proposal by New Song Academy to address this funding crisis by
implementing a reversal of how the overall per-pupil funding is being spent
at New Song Academy - instead of the typical ratio where 41% of funds go to
our students and 59% goes to administrative costs for the city school
system, they have proposed that Baltimore City Public School System flip
that ratio and give the school 59% to spend on children. New Song Academy
can make this proposal work because of it's own efficient administrative
structure and this does NOT ask that funds be taken from other BCPSS
schools.

We believe that the Baltimore City School System must support the success of
New Song Academy because the alternatives for our children are unacceptable.
Please provide for our community's children by providing the necessary
funding support needed by New Song Academy.

Sincerely,

Todd Marcus
Program Developer
Martha's Place
PO Box 12764
Baltimore, MD 21217
www.marthasplace.org
(410) 728-8402