Baltimore Students Left Freezing in Unheated Classrooms

HAVANA TIMES – As a severe cold snap hits the East Coast of the United States, in Baltimore Maryland, parents, teachers and students are protesting frigid conditions at public schools, with schoolchildren left shivering in classrooms and temperatures barely rising above freezing, reports Democracy Now.

Photos like this one show children bundled in winter parkas seated on a classroom floor; a high school classroom and a gymnasium left badly damaged after they were flooded by burst pipes; and a thermometer measuring one classroom’s temperature at 42 degrees (5 C).

The Baltimore Teachers Union condemned the conditions as “unfair” and “inhumane” and called on officials to close schools for the rest of the week. State Senator Bill Ferguson—a former Baltimore public school teacher—said the city’s schools requested funds for heating and air conditioning but were denied due to “fiscal constraints.” Ferguson blasted Republican Governor Bill Hogan in a tweet, writing, “Governor Hogan suggests enough money has gone to Baltimore City, additional resources not needed.”