Baltimore City Council members shocked by schools deficit, plan hearings

The Baltimore Sun reports:

City Council members expressed shock Wednesday that the Baltimore school system has run up a deficit of more than $60 million — even before $35 million in proposed state budget cuts.

Members said they were largely kept in the dark about the scale of the system's financial troubles. Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, who chairs the education committee, and Councilman Bill Henry, the committee vice chairman, said the council would hold hearings on the budget problems.

"It's unacceptable to have a $60 million deficit," Clarke said. "We can't live with it. We have to work with the school board to make sure we don't have to live with it."

That's a huge deficit for a school district the size of Baltimore.