Rally held to urge Baltimore, state to help with $130 million schools budget gap

After reviewing options at private schools for her daughter, Tracy Hall chose to keep her enrolled in a Baltimore public school.

"They have great resources," the Canton resident said of Federal Hill Preparatory School, where her daughter, who has Asperger's syndrome, will benefit from full-time paraeducators and other staff to make sure she succeeds.

But she and other parents of city school students at an Inner Harbor rally Saturday said they're concerned about potentially devastating cuts because of a $130 million budget shortfall. Several hundred people attended the event held by Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance at Rash Field, urging Mayor Catherine Pugh and Gov. Larry Hogan to come up with the money.

"I'm terrified. I don't know what we would do" if resources to her daughter's school were cut, Hall said.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-school-funding-rally-20170304-story.html