PASTOR COREY BROOKS: The real path out of Baltimore’s depression and despair

After six weeks of walking from New York City on my walk across America, I arrived in Baltimore. This city is one of contrasts. On one side is the beautiful inner harbor with its shops and restaurants; On the other hand, rowhouses in Sandtown Winchester and public housing towers in East Baltimore.

The same despair I fight on the south side of chicago They are found here – families trapped by a system that profits from their pain. If you walk these streets, it is clear that someone has become rich from the poor. There are lots of grants, programs and press conferences available. But where is the shift? I didn’t see much.

When a system thrives and benefits from collapse, who is the real savior of those caught up in it? This is how the poverty industrial complex works, and it is time to dismantle it, so individuals can climb the ladders of opportunity.

The numbers are telling us all Baltimore’s poverty rate clung to 20.2% in 2023, more than double Maryland’s 9.5% poverty rate, according to the U.S. Census. It’s down barely from 24.3% in 2010. The poverty rate for children ages 6 to 17 was 28% last year.

However, the money continues to flow.

Mackenzie Scott He donated $10 million to five non-profit organizations. The Baltimore Fund for Children and Youth oversees $15 million to $20 million annually and redistributes millions to more than 100 nonprofit organizations. The Goldseker Foundation gave away approximately $10 million to $15 million last year. The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation donates up to $10 million annually to dozens of small nonprofits serving low-income families. The Abell Foundation funds small grants of up to $10,000. The Baltimore Community Foundation administers $3 million in annual scholarships.

And that doesn’t even take into account the huge portion of Baltimore’s government pie — from Medicaid to HUD — due to the high poverty rate.

But where is the fruit? In 2018, auditors reportedly found that city officials had lost track of millions and, in one case, forced them to repay $3.7 million after anti-poverty groups failed to account for spending. In 2025, TIME Inc. faces… — Maryland’s largest mental health and homeless services nonprofit — Inspector General investigations into financial irregularities and potential fines. Too often, these anti-poverty funds fuel overhead expenses – from salaries and administration to parties – while what ultimately reaches the poor are crumbs.

I’m in the same struggle in Chicago, and I’ve seen what works. It’s not magic. Job training produces jobs. Faith-based counseling builds dignity on dependency. Right now, a lot of money is ending up in the wrong pockets.

If poverty is the trap, Baltimore schools are the lock. They say the system is broken, but I don’t think so. They’ve had years to fix what was broken. Instead, I believe the sorry state of education here is an intended consequence. They deliver failure, cycles and despair. I stopped in front of poorly rated schools and prayed with parents as they begged to escape.

Our children are not data points on someone’s graph, but rather individuals who have been robbed of their right to education as American citizens.

We need new leadership that gives families the freedom to choose the best school for their children. only Best schools It must exist.

The data is heartbreaking. On the 2025 MCAP tests, Baltimore City’s math proficiency rate was 12.6% — up from 10.2% in 2024. It ranked second best in Maryland, compared to 26.5% statewide. The average NAEP score for fourth graders was 209 in math, up from 201 in 2022 but down from 222 in 2009.

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Worse still, 23 of the city’s high schools — nearly three-quarters of them — did not have any students proficient in mathematics. At Patterson High School, 77% are reading at the elementary levels and 71% are doing math at the kindergarten levels. Maryland’s $2 billion “Blueprint for the Future” program since 2022 has pushed K-12 spending to $14.3 billion — a 16% increase — for a meager 1% increase in graduation. Baltimore spends more than $21,000 per pupil, yet its results remain dead statewide.

There has been a monopoly on schools due to the teachers union and other complicit forces. But signs of hope are there, and they come largely from school choice. Maryland’s BOOST vouchers helped 3,000 low-income students in 2024-25 with $9 million, sending them to responsible charters or private schools. Baltimore hosts 31 of the state’s 49 charters, which have better attendance and test scores. Nationally, selection raises disadvantaged students’ grades by 10% to 20% in reading and math, stimulating competition.

But as I said, the system wants failure to continue in an endless cycle. governor Maryland He sought to repeal BOOST in 2023, but lawmakers barely saved him.

Problems still exist. The Right to Learn Act, intended to help kids in one-star schools — about 60 percent of Baltimore’s students — never took off, and was stifled by those who profit from failure. However, 74% of Marylanders prefer school choice.

The Right to Learn Act, intended to help kids in one-star schools — about 60 percent of Baltimore’s students — never took off, and was stifled by those who profit from failure. However, 74% of Marylanders prefer school choice. (Istock)

As I walked, I met more families begging to be released from this educational prison. They told me, “Give us options, Pastor.” This can be best stated: “We don’t want poorly performing prisons.”

We need to link choice to values ​​in every part of society. We need nothing less than reform in how we deal with poverty and educate our children. We must begin by dismantling the poverty machine to unleash opportunity.

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Our children are not data points on someone’s graph, but rather individuals who have been robbed of their right to education as American citizens.

What I’m proposing is not magic, but American values. We know solutions that have worked for countless others — and they will work here. We just need to remove the enemies of those values ​​and restore meritocracy. faith And an opportunity to change the heart of the city.

This is the American way reborn.

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