Baltimore, January 5 (RHC)-- In the U.S. city of Baltimore, Maryland, parents, teachers and students are protesting frigid conditions at public schools, with schoolchildren left shivering in classrooms and temperatures barely rising above freezing. 

Photos shared widely on social media show children bundled in winter parkas seated on a classroom floor; a high school classroom and a gymnasium left badly damaged after they were flooded by burst pipes; and a thermometer measuring one classroom's temperature at 42 degrees. 

The Baltimore Teachers Union condemned the conditions as "unfair" and "inhumane" and called on officials to close schools for the rest of the week.  State Senator Bill Ferguson -- a former Baltimore public school teacher -- said the city's schools requested funds for heating and air conditioning but were denied due to "fiscal constraints."  Ferguson blasted Republican Governor Bill Hogan in a tweet, writing: "Governor Hogan suggests enough money has gone to Baltimore City, additional resources not needed."