Introduction

Protests in response to police brutality, which encompasses only a portion of systemic racism, have been eye-opening for many white Americans. America has not moved past the brutal and discriminatory culture of the past and systemic racism spans every corner of American society. The American educational system is built on a whitecentric curriculum and continues to ignore, or at best, gloss over, the success of Black Americans. Racist housing systems, like redlining, continue to keep public schools segregated despite the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. This racial segregation impacts funding; today, schools with Black students are desperately underfunded. Data scientist David Mosenkis (2016) writes, “On average, the whitest districts get thousands of dollars more than their fair share for each student, while the least white districts get thousands less for each student than their fair share.” Gillian B. White (2016) continues, “Just the increased presence of minority students actually deflated a district’s funding level.” Public school underfunding along racial lines is a national issue. No district has experienced this more than the Baltimore City Public School system, which holds a student population with a significant Black majority.