Law Enforcement Talk: True Crime and Trauma Stories

Episode: Public School Failure in Baltimore: Is It Spreading Like Cancer?

Host: John “Jay” Wiley
Guest: Chris Pabst, Investigative Journalist (Fox 45 Baltimore), Author of Failure Factory
Date: February 25, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode tackles the chronic failure of the Baltimore City Public School system and examines whether these issues are spreading to other cities across the United States. Host John “Jay” Wiley speaks with investigative journalist Chris Pabst, author of Failure Factory, about his deep-dive reporting into the roots and repercussions of failing urban schools, systemic inequities, and the interplay between education, crime, and poverty. The conversation draws on Pabst’s investigative findings, highlighting troubling trends and sparking a larger dialogue about public education’s trajectory and its nationwide implications.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Baltimore: A City With Potential Hampered by an Education Crisis

• Baltimore’s Decline Linked to Schools:

  • “This city has absolutely everything that it needs... So why did the city once have a million people and now it's down to 550,000 and shrinking almost every year?... I think it's because of a failing public education system.” – Chris Pabst (05:26)
  • Host and guest reflect on the city’s assets (history, location, architecture) versus its economic and social decline.

• Systemic Urban Decay:

  • “If you're driving around as a police officer, you see the 15,000 blighted homes that are boarded up and have trees growing out of them.” – Chris Pabst (03:55)
  • The visible distress in the city is seen as a symptom of deeper institutional failures.

Alarming Educational Data & Outcomes

• Resource Imbalance:

  • Baltimore schools receive extremely high funding (~$1.8 billion/year, 38% increase in 8 years), but performance remains dismal:
    • Graduation rate: 70% → 71% in 8 years.
    • Only 12% of students proficient in math; 25% in reading (12:10, 13:34).

• Disconnect Between Graduation and Proficiency:

  • “How do you have 71% of your kids graduating, but 12% of your kids are proficient in math?” – Chris Pabst (12:58)

• Low Standards and Minimum Accountability:

  • Many students are pushed through the system regardless of academic proficiency.
  • Discipline has been significantly relaxed: annual arrests dropped from 900 to 18 (15 years), keeping disruptive students in classrooms (14:39).

Systemic Priorities—Funding Over Education

• Administration vs. Education:

  • Much of the increased budget is absorbed by administrative salaries and positions, not by improving classroom outcomes.
  • “The public education system is no longer prioritizing educating kids. It’s prioritizing the acquisition of funding and then using that funding to hire more adults... to grow the power and political influence of public education.” – Chris Pabst (17:43)

• Impact of Poverty and Generational Cycles:

  • Lack of mobility for families entrenched in the failing system; parents were themselves products of the same underperforming schools (21:36).

The Broader Crisis: Is Baltimore an Outlier or a Warning?

• National Trends:

  • Similar patterns observed in other cities like Philadelphia and Palm Beach County; host notes policies and dysfunction spreading.
  • “It's not just happening in Baltimore. We can see this happening in many other places.” – Chris Pabst (06:08)

• The Importance of Public Education Nationwide:

  • “90% of the kids in America are going to public schools... We cannot allow our public schools throughout America to go down the route that Baltimore has gone down.” – Chris Pabst (23:16)

Solutions: Policy and Political Will

• Holding Systems Accountable:

  • “There’s really two solutions here. There’s a policy solution, and there’s a political solution.” – Chris Pabst (26:15)
    • Political: Elect officials willing to fire failing school leaders and demand accountability for poor outcomes.
    • Policy: Reinstate meaningful discipline; remove disruptive students; empower teachers to manage classrooms.

• Incentive Problems:

  • School funding is tied to enrollment, so there’s a disincentive to suspend, expel, or otherwise remove students, regardless of disruptions (28:19).

• No-Cost Fixes:

  • Policy changes—particularly around student discipline—would require little to no new money, only resolve and change in practice (27:19).

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Dysfunctional Public Education Priorities:

  • “Instead of what works, we do what sounds good.” – Chris Pabst (14:06)

• Generational Impact:

  • “Many of the parents were undereducated by the same school system that their children now attend... that's what really has created this perpetual cycle of generational poverty.” – Chris Pabst (21:36)

• On the Response to Exposing These Issues:

  • Pabst details the personal blowback—including racial hostility and threats—he received for reporting the truth:
    • “When I started reporting on all of this, I did get a lot of blowback... why is this white guy coming into a black city and reporting on these things? This is our city, not his.” (32:14)
    • Nevertheless, he eventually earned respect:
      • “By 2023, I received a state level honor from the NAACP... for the work in Failure Factory.” (34:34)
  • “If we're going to turn the problem around, we have to admit that there is a problem.” – Chris Pabst (35:39)

• CEO Compensation Amidst Failure:

  • “$500,000 a year... to run a school system where 12% of the kids are proficient in math.” – John J. Wiley (38:06, 38:12)

Important Timestamps

• 03:21: Chris Pabst describes arriving in Baltimore and seeing its struggles.
• 05:26: Baltimore’s decline and its link to education.
• 08:56: Per-student spending, stagnant graduation rates.
• 12:10: Math proficiency—only 12%.
• 13:34: Reading proficiency—only 25%.
• 14:39: Discipline crisis; arrests drop, disruptive students remain.
• 17:43: System funds administration, not education.
• 23:16: National implications of public school failure.
• 26:15: Solutions—political and policy-based.
• 32:14: Blowback and racial hostility faced as an investigative reporter.
• 34:34: Recognition by the NAACP despite initial resistance.
• 38:06: CEO making $500,000 despite systemic failure.
• 39:37: Motivation for writing Failure Factory.

Conclusion

Chris Pabst and John Wiley paint a grim but urgent picture of the state of public education in Baltimore—and warn of the broader national implications. Their conversation underscores the need for transparency, accountability, and political courage to reform systems that serve administrative interests over student achievement. Pabst’s reporting and Failure Factory urge communities nationwide to scrutinize their own schools, demand truthful data, hold leaders to account, and ensure that public funding yields meaningful educational results.