BUILD Activists Call on Business Leaders to Help City Schools.
As their bus rumbled through housing projects and dilapidated schools and toward Harbor East — one of the crown jewels of Baltimore's revitalized waterfront — Zion Baptist Church Pastor Marshall Prentice asked his parishioners how they felt after hearing about the millions of tax breaks given to developers there."I'm a teacher, and I'm really upset," said Linda Jones, 62, recalling the three-inch cockroaches that scurried through her school and the library that was shut down due to budget cuts.Those on the bus were some of the hundreds taking part in a rally and tour sponsored by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), a coalition of church groups, that contrasted tax breaks granted for downtown development with the rest of the city's dilapidated schools and dwindling opportunities for youth.BUILD has been calling on Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to fund youth programs and say they intend to hold her to her promises.