Enrollment in Baltimore City schools continue to decline, in parallel to the city's shrinking population over the past few decades. There are nearly 10,000 fewer kids in city classrooms this year than there were 10 years ago.

With funding for schools tied to the number of students in classrooms, less students represents a challenge for school officials. Chronic absenteeism, which afflicts Baltimore schools and schools across the country, is also a pressing problem.

Meanwhile, if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his pledge to shutter the federal Department of Education, what would that mean for our city?

Baltimore City Public School system CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises joins Midday to talk about the her school system, and its future.

Santelises led the system longer than any other city CEO in the last several decades. Her last contract expired in June. Chair Ronald McFadden reportedly engaged in months-long negotiations with Santelises that ended last summer with an offer for her to continue as CEO for just one more year, while a national search for her successor was undertaken. Then, about a month ago, the board voted to extend her contract another year, through June 2026. McFadden and Roberts voted against that extension, and this week they resigned as commissioners.

Liz Bowie, an education reporter with WYPR's news partner the Baltimore Banner, reports the reshuffling of the board is the result of a power struggle on the board over negotiations on a new contract with Santelises.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Midday revisits Tom's conversation with political scientist Tom Schaller, a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and former Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman. In February they published, 'White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy.'

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Donald Trump’s penchant for fabrication and malicious claims against immigrants and others did not seem to matter to voters in the last election. A majority of voters chose Trump to serve a second term.

My guest has been chronicling lying in politics for the past 17 years. Bill Adair is the creator of PolitiFact. We’ll talk about his latest book, Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today on Midday on the Arts, a rare, Reconstruction-era masterpiece by the groundbreaking African American composer Scott Joplin is on stage at Morgan State University. Opera@Morgan artistic director Marquita Lister tells us about Treemonisha.

Plus, the violin virtuoso Qing Lee of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra joins Midday to preview her appearance at Emmanuel Church tomorrow night at Emmanuel Church.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

First District Baltimore Councilman Zeke Cohen dominated the primary and general election to become the next President of the Baltimore City Council, succeeding Nick Mosby. Cohen is a Democrat who has been on the council since 2016.

Cohen joins Midday to talk about his priorities as he assumes one of only three city-wide offices.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It is the Midday Newswrap on today's show.

Baltimore’s go-it-alone approach to holding companies accountable for their role in the opioid epidemic continues to pay off. This week, the city won yet another huge judgment. WYPR’s Health Reporter Scott Maucione has the latest.

Plus, Aman Azhar of Inside Climate News reports on efforts to end Maryland’s use of energy generated by trash incineration. Advocates have long railed against waste-to-energy plants, but now lawmakers are signaling their appetite for change.

 And, we remember a titan of Baltimore politics. Mary Pat Clarke passed away this week. Former Baltimore City Councilman Anthony Ambridge reflects on her life of service.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Midday to share another weekly review of a local theatrical production.

This week, we discuss Into the Woods, at the Vagabond Players through Sunday, Nov. 17.

Then we briefly take a look at another Broadway musical in town, MJ, at the Hippodrome through Sunday.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today, a conversation about how immigration policy will change when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. He says his intention is to hire or nominate immigration officials who have long taken hardline positions.

Tom speaks with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the President and CEO of Global Refuge, which provides asylum services and assists refugees with resettlement.

He also talks with Mark Parker, who has just been elected to serve on the Baltimore City Council to represent District 1, which includes a large Hispanic population. Community organizer Susana Barrios also joins us. She is the Vice President of the Latino Racial Justice Circle.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

More than one in five people in Baltimore live in a food desert, which the city calls “Healthy Food Priority Areas.” More than 30% of people who live a quarter-mile from an affordable grocery store in the city are African American.

A quick trip to a full-service grocery store, or a trip for a week's worth of food, is made harder when supermarkets are farther away. Convenience stores and small corner markets fill in the gap, but they rarely offer produce or affordable prices.

The residents in neighborhoods near the B&O Railroad Museum were part of that grim statistic until recently. A new store in the Mount Clare Junction shopping plaza, JumboFresh Supermarket, features a wide variety of foods and products catering to the culturally-diverse clientele of nearby neighborhoods.

Improving food access is crucial for the health and wellbeing of city residents. Today, a discussion about how this new store came to open in Southwest Baltimore, its unique business model and what it means to the residents of the surrounding areas. Are there lessons other neighborhoods can replicate?

We begin with Bif Browning, the President of the Union Square Association, and Jonathan Tejada, a JumboFresh staff member.

Later in the program, we talk to Baltimore City 10th District Councilwoman Phylicia Porter, and Carrie Baniszewski, the Executive Director of the neighborhood development nonprofit Pigtown Main Street.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

WYPR Reporter John Lee joins Midday to discuss an eventful time in Baltimore County politics.

The Baltimore County Council is set to expand in 2026 after voters approved a measure to add two members to the 7-member body. And with Johnny Olszewski heading to Washington, D.C., the county also needs to find a new county executive.

Plus, the Baltimore County Council decided to keep a district map it drew for nine council seats, but the issues is not resolved. Councilman Julian Jones, a Democrat, said is it likely the County Council will be sued over the nine-district map.

Lee catches us up on the latest.

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Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joins Midday to discuss his priorities as he enters a second term. What are the prospects for projects planned with federal assistance? While President Joe Biden made promises to Baltimore, the administration of President-elect Donald Trump may not offer continued support.

We also discuss Baltimore Safe Streets, a prominent part of the city's violence reduction strategy, the passing of the influential Mary Pat Clarke and the status of repairs following underground fires in the city near the electrical infrastructure.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.