Future of Education Podcast S2E313: Exposing Baltimore's Public School Catastrophic Failure: Lead Investigative Reporter Tells All
Mar 10, 2026
Chris Papst, an Emmy-winning investigative reporter behind Project Baltimore and author of Failure Factory, exposes systemic collapse in Baltimore schools. He traces billions in funding with stagnant outcomes. Short, hard-hitting conversations reveal money misdirected, incentive structures protecting adults over students, and shocking examples of manipulated grades and unproficient schools.
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Use Persistent Reporting To Expose Systemic Issues
- Investigative reporting should focus on showing taxpayers how their dollars are spent to hold systems accountable.
- Becoming topic experts by sustained coverage (Project Baltimore) uncovers patterns that one-off reporting misses.
Rising Funding Without Learning Gains
- Baltimore spent $1.3B in 2017 and $1.8B in 2025 yet graduation rose only from 70% to 71%.
- Math proficiency moved from 11% to 12% despite a 38% funding increase, revealing spending didn't improve core learning.
Money Spent On Staff Growth Not Teachers
- Baltimore hired 1,300 additional employees with the extra $500M while enrollment dropped about 8%.
- Not one of those hires was a teacher, indicating growth favored noninstructional staff over classroom capacity.
