Archive

In an op-ed recently published in the Baltimore Sun, Scott Nolen, director of OSI-Baltimore’s Drug Addiction Treatment program responds to Governor Hogan declaring Maryland in a “state of emergency” over the opioid crisis. “If this were a hurricane or a flash flood, we would not be blaming victims for their predicament or arguing about whether […]

Last night at OSI-Baltimore’s Talking About Race event, Pulitzer-winning historian Taylor Branch suggested that race has been the central story line throughout American history and politics, and it continues to be in the age of Trump. (Listen to the whole thing below.) “There is no subject remotely comparable to the impact of race on our […]

Yesterday, Mayor Catherine Pugh offered her State of the City address, which she divided into five key areas: education and youth development, public safety, economic and workforce development and expansion, smart cities and effective government, and healthy communities. (Watch the full address here.) She promised to address the school system’s structural deficit and to confront […]

In a New York Times op-ed published today, George Soros, the investor, philanthropist, and chairman of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), talks about the dangers inherent in President Trump’s aggressive immigration policies: Having survived the Nazi persecution of Jews in Hungary, I escaped from Soviet occupation at age 17 and made my way first to Britain […]

This morning, Open Society Foundations (OSF) announced the launch of the Communities Against Hate initiative, an effort to collect data on hate incidents around the country and provide services to impacted communities. USA Today reported on the launch this morning. OSI-Baltimore is the only US field office of Open Society Foundations. Eleven national organizations representing threatened […]

On Tuesday, OSI-Baltimore’s Leadership Council visited East Baltimore’s City Springs Elementary/Middle School. The school, with OSI support and the leadership of principal Rhonda Richetta, has become a model of restorative practices. Council members attended the school’s morning assembly and participated in a restorative circle led by three fifth graders. OSI is now working with Baltimore City […]

Mayor Catherine Pugh released her administration’s transition report in which her team not only lays out a vision for Baltimore City that focuses on improving transportation, strengthening the school system, increasing small and minority-owned businesses, and improving the health and quality of all neighborhoods, but also gives special recognition to “stakeholders such as the Open […]

This morning on WEAA’s Marc Steiner Show, leaders of the OSI-funded Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC), talked about ongoing efforts to get local leaders to fix the $130 million gap in the Baltimore City Public Schools budget for academic year 2017-18. Listen to the whole conversation here. “We’re asking for the mayor and the governor to get […]

This week Justice Policy Institute, an OSI-Baltimore grantee, released “Raising the Age: Shifting to a Safer and More Effective Juvenile Justice System,” which shows promising results from states that have raised the age of those who can be absorbed into the juvenile justice system. According to the report, in the past 10 years, half of the […]

Students at schools throughout Baltimore City mailed postcards to Mayor Catherine Pugh and Governor Larry Hogan today, in a demonstration organized by the Baltimore Education Coalition, an OSI-Baltimore grantee. The postcards urge the mayor and governor to fix the $130 million budget gap in funding for Baltimore city schools in the next academic year. The […]