Annapolis, MD – While students at several Baltimore public schools were sent home due to inadequate heat amid record low temperatures today, Governor Larry Hogan and Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford dismissed concerns over students’ and teachers’ safety—choosing instead to dodge their responsibility and cast blame on others.
When asked about Baltimore’s crime epidemic last month, Hogan said, “This is a city responsibility. Only the city police force and mayor can get it under control.”
“Governor Hogan’s callous disregard for the safety of Baltimore students fits his legacy of neglect in Baltimore,”said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews. “It is truly shameful to see Governor Hogan and his administration dismiss valid concerns about student safety and dodge their responsibility for Baltimore by casting blame on others. At some point Governor Hogan will have to realize that Baltimoreans are his constituents too, and their safety should be his concern.”
In his time in office, Governor Hogan has repeatedly neglected the needs of Baltimore. He refused to fully-fund Baltimore Schools in 2015, in his most recent budget, he proposed millions of dollars in cuts to after school programs, teacher salaries and neighborhood investment in Baltimore.
Governor Hogan hasn’t only neglected Baltimore students, he has repeatedly stood in the way of efforts to give Baltimore families opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty.
Less than six months into his term as governor, Hogan jetisoned nearly a decade of effort and threw nearly $1 billion federal dollars down the drain by cancelling the Red Line project, which would have connected the east and west sides of Baltimore, providing much-needed access to public transportation to areas of Baltimore where the median income is just over $31,000 and where 39 percent of households lack access to an automobile. According to the Jacob France Institute, the project would have spurred nearly $2 billion in economic activity in Baltimore during construction and create and support more than 9,000 jobs.
In November, Baltimore residents learned that a project to expand the Howard Street Tunnel was cancelled despite Governor Hogan’s promises in October 2016 that the project was “something that we’re going to make sure gets done.” The Project would have added jobs and spurred economic activity.
In December 2016, Governor Hogan cancelled the $1.5 billion State Center project only months after his administration said the project was a “high priority.”
Ignoring the safety of Baltimore students in sub-freezing weather adds one more snub to a city in a legacy of neglect.