Can THIS Radical Street Librarian End Child Illiteracy? | Ms. Maze Ep. 5 | People You Should Know

I met a Radical Street Librarian who dresses like various characters from famous fairytales and hands out children's books to passersby on the mean streets of Baltimore, not too far from where they filmed The Wire. She calls herself Ms. Maze, and she's on a mission to improve the city's literacy rate. She's also the star of this weeks People You Should Know, because I'm really hoping she can make a difference in my hometown.

If you didn't already know, (and even of you did) The Baltimore City Public School District is one of the highest funded in the country. On average, it receives nearly $16,000 per student, per year. Yet, it’s also one of the lowest-performing large school districts in the country. Compared to similarly-sized urban school systems, Baltimore places near the bottom for student proficiencies in math and reading.

As the son of public school teachers, it gives me no joy to point out just how badly Baltimore City has failed to educate the kids who live there. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but no consensus on what exactly should be done to address the problem. The teachers themselves are an easy target, but hardly the root cause. Which is why I was intrigued by the Sisyphean journey of Ms. Maze, and her determination to get kids interested in books at a young age. On this episode, we do what we can to increase her odds of success.

#show #books #education

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