Extensive investigative journalism at WJZ-TV, the CBS affiliate in Baltimore, has found that dozens of teachers contracted through the nonprofit Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center (LTYC) are still waiting on payments for their work in city and county schools. Instructors told reporters they have endured months of delays, partial payments, and mounting debts while the organization points to slow reimbursements from districts as the root cause.
Several teachers described dire financial consequences. Cedric Benning, a media arts instructor for eight years, said unpaid wages left him unable to cover basic bills. “I haven’t paid the car note. I haven’t paid anything in months. I’ve been on the phone with debt collectors trying to work it out,” he said. Dance teacher Jermaine Melvin, known professionally as Platinum J, reported losses of $12,000. “That’s not something I’m just going to forget about and walk away. Our credit is messed up. I’m negative in my account right now,” he said.
Former program administrator Camrie Hilton told WJZ that teachers are owed anywhere from $2,000 to as much as $17,000. Visual arts instructor Valerie Hall-Butler, who has worked with LTYC since 2019, said she is owed just over $2,000. Fighting tears, she said, “We were committed, dedicated, and we gave everything. We left it all at the doorstep of every school that we were in.”
LTYC founder and president Dr Dermell Brunson acknowledged the delays but said they stem from districts’ late reimbursements, not mismanagement. He estimated the nonprofit owes roughly $350,000. “This last year has been the toughest year on record for LTYC, mainly because of the late payments from districts,” Brunson said, stressing that “delay is not denial.” He also insisted that no individual instructor is owed the larger sums some contractors cite.
School systems pushed back. Anne Arundel County officials said all invoices have been paid. Baltimore County said its vendor payments take four to six weeks once invoices are approved. Baltimore City Schools stated that it has already paid LTYC more than $605,000 under a multimillion-dollar contract but has withheld approximately $31,000 in invoices because the nonprofit exceeded its purchase order. In a statement, the district noted: “Any failure on the part of LTYC to pay its employees is solely the responsibility of LTYC.”
For the teachers still waiting, however, the explanations ring hollow. Some have turned to online fundraisers to cover missed bills, while others say they will never contract with the nonprofit again. “There’s no trust. There’s nothing. Zilch,” Melvin said. Hall-Butler added: “They just failed us. I felt like they walked away from us when we didn’t walk away from them.”
