Baltimore’s schools battle 20% dropout rate, more than twice the state average 

More than 20% of Baltimore students are leaving high school before graduating, a new report discovered.

“The Maryland State Department of Education says Baltimore City Public Schools has a 20.8% dropout rate, as compared to the state’s average of 9.87%,” wrote the local CBS affiliate. “District officials called this a ‘surge’ and the state’s data show the trend has been increasing since 2021, when the district’s dropout rate was 12.51%.”

Meanwhile, the district has recorded dwindling enrollment even while ramping up its staff numbers.

As previously reported by The Lion, non-instructional staffers grew by 28% between 2018 and 2024, compared to only 15% for instructional staffers.

During this time, student enrollment fell by 6% – leading to 1,714 more adults for 4,781 fewer students.

“It’s not supposed to be a jobs program for adults. It’s supposed to be an education initiative for kids,” said education reform advocate Corey DeAngelis. “In what other industry do you lose your customer base and you go on a hiring spree?”

Student outcomes ‘have gone down’

The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress report in 2025 contained more bad news for the district, showing below-average math performance for its fourth grade students.

“Baltimore City recorded the fourth lowest score in the nation among the 26 districts tested, which is consistent with where the school system has historically ranked,” wrote Chris Papst for the local Fox affiliate.

Reading scores fared similarly, with the district placing “fourth lowest in fourth grade reading and fifth lowest in eighth grade reading.”

“More school employees are not leading to better student outcomes,” Papst concluded.

“Most student outcomes in Baltimore City … have gone down. From 2018 to 2024, the graduation rate, average SAT score and the attendance rate have decreased, while the dropout rate and chronic absenteeism have increased.”

Despite these statistics, administrators expressed hopes to improve conditions for future classes.

In one example, Forest Park High School in northwest Baltimore has implemented the “On Track to Graduate” program under its principal Ninia Mouzone, who started her position during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When I arrived, 33.3% of our freshmen were not matriculating to 10th grade without needing to remediate credits,” she told reporters. “As of last year, 82.7% of those freshmen became 10th graders without incident.”

Mouzone outlined her goals to get even more students graduating on time, noting how the program started at the ninth-grade level but has expanded to include the whole school.

“We do whatever we have to do to make sure that our kids understand what success looks like,” she said, “and have a plan to get there.”