(BALTIMORE – December 24, 2025) – When I first saw the news, I said to myself, Are you kidding me? Surely, you’re joking. No disrespect, but I’ve seen a snow job before. And for me, this was a classic – even to the point of extending her contract. In case you didn’t hear, Dr. Sonja Santelises has been voted the top public school superintendent in the state of Maryland and is a finalist for the national honor.
Let me be clear: This is a smack in the face of every parent of every child in a Baltimore City school.
The data doesn’t lie, even when the press releases do. Baltimore City students rank fourth worst in the nation in fourth-grade math. Fourth worst in eighth-grade math. Fifth worst in reading. These are the same scores that have declined in every category since Santelises took over in 2016 – and they’ve fallen faster than the national average for large urban districts…