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Public Hearing October 12, 2009 Testimony of Annette Werner: Good evening. I would like to discuss the proposal to extend Superintendent Roosevelt’s contract ahead of the timeframe permitted by state law. A major issue in the Pittsburgh public schools is the level of enrollment. By last year at this time the district had released figures showing one of the greatest percentage declines in recent years, far exceeding the percentage decline in the number of school-aged children. This year the official number has not yet been released, but the loss appears to be at least as great as it was last year. A year ago Mr. Roosevelt said he hoped to begin a project that would find families who had left the district and ask them why they had done so. A Broad fellow was to handle the project. If the study was in fact done results have not been made public, and there does not seem to be a plan in place to stem the decline. Also unclear are the results of new schools and configurations. For example, looking at Milliones/University Prep, which was begun last year with 9th grade only, we were originally told that enrollment was full and that this would be a “flagship school.” However, the 9th and 10th grades at this time have a combined enrollment of just over 200, much fewer than the 300 students planned. Clearly it cannot yet be counted a success. In terms of achievement it seems premature to conclude that real and substantial gains have taken place. As we showed last month, the gap between state and Pittsburgh scores has for the most part stayed the same or even widened. The state made a determination of Adequate Yearly Progress in Pittsburgh based on a new “growth model” that gave credit for 4th and 5th grade students deemed to be “on track” to proficiency in reading. However, as the attached chart shows, proficiency rates for last year’s 4th and 5th grade classes actually declined compared to their proficiency rates in third grade. It’s hard to see the growth. The state has not been able to explain this disparity, stating that its contractor’s procedures are proprietary. Under the circumstances, it seems unwise to count on these gains before they are hatched. What if we find next year that enrollment has continued to decline faster than population; new schools and configurations have not worked as well as planned; hoped-for gains in achievement do not materialize; and Promise fundraising has faltered? Well, we would be locked into a contract for an additional four years. In contrast, the superintendent would not be locked in- he can leave at any time without penalty. This seems one-sided. Particularly given that we have a very able deputy superintendent who could step in if need be, it would seem wise to stick with the law and wait for another year of data before deciding on a contract extension. Testimony of Kathy Fine: Good evening everyone. Over the last year we have presented testimony to this board asking questions about the reform efforts in our schools. I would like to take my time tonight to attempt to illustrate the reasons that we have so many questions and to explore the possibility of addressing the task of educating all of our children, including those who are the most at risk. While many would say that the task of educating all of our youth is insurmountable, daunting and complicated, I would say the opposite. Identifying the cause, effect and solutions are simple. The cause is poverty. The effect is that too many students do not have the understanding that knowledge is power. And the solution is that our most vulnerable children need our schools to provide indispensable support and to instill the love of learning necessary for success. I am not saying that implementing the solution is easy, but we do have the tools to make a difference; desire and determination. The reason that we come month after month to ask for transparency, for true parent engagement and for real accountability is because we have seen dramatic changes take place in our schools with minimal results. Changes are enacted before the core issues that continue to hold our students back are addressed. We concentrate on test scores when many of our students have no one at home to worry about how well they will do on these tests. We are moving students from building to building without providing our students with the understanding that a good education can be life changing. We ignore the realities of the day to day struggles of our poor urban youth. We give false hopes to entire communities by initiating community engagement and then letting that momentum slip away as we did in the Westinghouse neighborhood (see attached). Our schools should be implementing the best practices that we read about every day. Increased class time, standardized curriculums, and better principal and teacher evaluations are fine endeavors but should be supplemental to providing students with someone that they see everyday that shows interest in their academic and nonacademic growth. The 6th grade mentoring program is a good start, but it is not enough. Instead of spending money on revamping buildings that are to be sold, on warehousing troubled students, on consultants and on marketing, we should be spending our precious funds on real guidance counseling and psychologists, social workers to connect students and families with the services that are available, and extending school building operation times to create community learning centers. These are the reforms that could be transformative. I am imploring this board to set the policies that would acknowledge and address this simple truth; many of our youth are not being provided with a sound foundation regarding their educational development. How can they stay on the Pathway to the Promise when many cannot even find the path in the first place? We must be the ones to guide them to this path. Can we as a school district solve the problem of urban poverty? Of course we can’t. Can we ameliorate the effects of poverty on a student’s ability to learn? Yes we can. Not only can we, but it is our moral imperative to do so. Testimony of Andrea McNeill Bait and switch—lack of opportunities afforded students at Schenley @ Reizenstein. bait and switch is a form of fraud in which the party putting forth the fraud lures in customers by advertising a product or service at a low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute is. This term has lots of other meanings, even outside of the marketing arena. My daughter’s education was supposed to be an international studies education. The trek when she started school in Kindergarten was Linden, Frick and Schenley. WE bought into it. At the end of her sophomore year, Schenley closed its doors on the hill. The children were relegated as a group of 10, 11, & 12 graders ONLY to the facility at Reizenstein. Her junior year was filled with challenges, but the students all had each other and played to their strengths rather than fall to the adversity that could have caused them to fail. Her senior year has brought more turmoil. Now the building includes 6, 7 & 8th graders in the form of the new I.B. school. Where the Schenley students had the run of the building and could try to re-develop a sense of school pride, the Jrs. And Srs. of the dying school are relegated to the second floor box set up for them. And don’t you dare cross over the lines. You sinking all this money into a program that many Jrs and Srs shy away from for a number of reasons, 1st and foremost in an informal study conducted was that it was too hard and the teachers of these classes have no problem stating that fact to the students and their parents. Did you do your homework and ask parents and students why so few sit for these exams? Are the teachers who teach these classes knowledgeable enough to know what the IB testers want tested and relay that to the kids—I think not because they spend way to much time prepping for the PSSA’s. Why bait and switch, I.S. not I.B. 1st the allegations of disturbed asbestos causing the move in the first place. 2nd the illusion of at least being a whole school in a different building @ Reizenstein. 3rd the addition of 6, 7, 8 graders thereby taking away space that they were trying to make their own. 4th brunch at 10:30 a.m. and being commanded to stay at the school until 3 p.m. in the afternoon even if they have enough credits earned with classes earlier in the day to leave. Finally, to add insult to injury, limited selections in the course the student can take. My daughter did not change her schedule as the leadership at the school contends. When we received her schedule in Mid August, we noticed immediately that there was not an English class listed. Although many things have changed with regard to graduation requirements, the requirement for 4 years of English did not change. We called, emailed and did everything we could from our end. The 1st week of school brought about 3 changes to her schedule. She was no longer in the classes she selected in her Jr. year. There was even a repeated class offered which we declined. My gifted daughter was assigned to a mainstream English class and that was not acceptable. The only other alternative offered was a PSP English class, but then she could not take her German class that is now only offered one period because the teacher teaches the lower grades as well. Her principal informed me that she may have to return to her home school, Westinghouse because she’s not taking a language. Only Westinghouse does not even offer German as a class and she has already taken Westinghouse’s highest level class offerings as a Junior. Bait and switch, I signed on for International Studies not the IB degree with the diploma. Mr. Roosevelt you agreed in a letter I signed at Brittany’s GIEP that regular education was not suitable for this child. What are you going to do about her and other students who have had their chosen education tracks removed? If she is prepared for college next year, I will credit her teachers that didn’t abandon ship. But one thing I can say for certain is that she learned that adults talk out of many sides of their mouths and they lie.

Mission Statement

Announcements

Featured Topics

Three Year Review of District Initiatives

Questions About High School Reform

Blog

Links

Transparency
Watch

Public Hearing
October 12, 2009

Testimony of Annette Werner:

Good evening. I would like to discuss the proposal to extend Superintendent Roosevelt’s contract ahead of the timeframe permitted by state law.

A major issue in the Pittsburgh public schools is the level of enrollment. By last year at this time the district had released figures showing one of the greatest percentage declines in recent years, far exceeding the percentage decline in the number of school-aged children. This year the official number has not yet been released, but the loss appears to be at least as great as it was last year.

A year ago Mr. Roosevelt said he hoped to begin a project that would find families who had left the district and ask them why they had done so. A Broad fellow was to handle the project. If the study was in fact done results have not been made public, and there does not seem to be a plan in place to stem the decline.

Also unclear are the results of new schools and configurations. For example, looking at Milliones/University Prep, which was begun last year with 9th grade only, we were originally told that enrollment was full and that this would be a “flagship school.” However, the 9th and 10th grades at this time have a combined enrollment of just over 200, much fewer than the 300 students planned. Clearly it cannot yet be counted a success.

In terms of achievement it seems premature to conclude that real and substantial gains have taken place. As we showed last month, the gap between state and Pittsburgh scores has for the most part stayed the same or even widened. The state made a determination of Adequate Yearly Progress in Pittsburgh based on a new “growth model” that gave credit for 4th and 5th grade students deemed to be “on track” to proficiency in reading. However, as the attached chart shows, proficiency rates for last year’s 4th and 5th grade classes actually declined compared to their proficiency rates in third grade. It’s hard to see the growth. The state has not been able to explain this disparity, stating that its contractor’s procedures are proprietary. Under the circumstances, it seems unwise to count on these gains before they are hatched.

What if we find next year that enrollment has continued to decline faster than population; new schools and configurations have not worked as well as planned; hoped-for gains in achievement do not materialize; and Promise fundraising has faltered? Well, we would be locked into a contract for an additional four years. In contrast, the superintendent would not be locked in- he can leave at any time without penalty. This seems one-sided.

Particularly given that we have a very able deputy superintendent who could step in if need be, it would seem wise to stick with the law and wait for another year of data before deciding on a contract extension.

Testimony of Kathy Fine:

Good evening everyone. Over the last year we have presented testimony to this board asking questions about the reform efforts in our schools. I would like to take my time tonight to attempt to illustrate the reasons that we have so many questions and to explore the possibility of addressing the task of educating all of our children, including those who are the most at risk.

While many would say that the task of educating all of our youth is insurmountable, daunting and complicated, I would say the opposite. Identifying the cause, effect and solutions are simple. The cause is poverty. The effect is that too many students do not have the understanding that knowledge is power. And the solution is that our most vulnerable children need our schools to provide indispensable support and to instill the love of learning necessary for success. I am not saying that implementing the solution is easy, but we do have the tools to make a difference; desire and determination.

The reason that we come month after month to ask for transparency, for true parent engagement and for real accountability is because we have seen dramatic changes take place in our schools with minimal results. Changes are enacted before the core issues that continue to hold our students back are addressed. We concentrate on test scores when many of our students have no one at home to worry about how well they will do on these tests. We are moving students from building to building without providing our students with the understanding that a good education can be life changing. We ignore the realities of the day to day struggles of our poor urban youth. We give false hopes to entire communities by initiating community engagement and then letting that momentum slip away as we did in the Westinghouse neighborhood (see attached).

Our schools should be implementing the best practices that we read about every day. Increased class time, standardized curriculums, and better principal and teacher evaluations are fine endeavors but should be supplemental to providing students with someone that they see everyday that shows interest in their academic and nonacademic growth. The 6th grade mentoring program is a good start, but it is not enough. Instead of spending money on revamping buildings that are to be sold, on warehousing troubled students, on consultants and on marketing, we should be spending our precious funds on real guidance counseling and psychologists, social workers to connect students and families with the services that are available, and extending school building operation times to create community learning centers. These are the reforms that could be transformative.

I am imploring this board to set the policies that would acknowledge and address this simple truth; many of our youth are not being provided with a sound foundation regarding their educational development. How can they stay on the Pathway to the Promise when many cannot even find the path in the first place? We must be the ones to guide them to this path. Can we as a school district solve the problem of urban poverty? Of course we can’t. Can we ameliorate the effects of poverty on a student’s ability to learn? Yes we can. Not only can we, but it is our moral imperative to do so.

Testimony of Andrea McNeill

Bait and switch—lack of opportunities afforded students at Schenley @ Reizenstein.

bait and switch is a form of fraud in which the party putting forth the fraud lures in customers by advertising a product or service at a low price, then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not available but that a substitute is. This term has lots of other meanings, even outside of the marketing arena.

My daughter’s education was supposed to be an international studies education. The trek when she started school in Kindergarten was Linden, Frick and Schenley. WE bought into it.

At the end of her sophomore year, Schenley closed its doors on the hill. The children were relegated as a group of 10, 11, & 12 graders ONLY to the facility at Reizenstein. Her junior year was filled with challenges, but the students all had each other and played to their strengths rather than fall to the adversity that could have caused them to fail.

Her senior year has brought more turmoil. Now the building includes 6, 7 & 8th graders in the form of the new I.B. school. Where the Schenley students had the run of the building and could try to re-develop a sense of school pride, the Jrs. And Srs. of the dying school are relegated to the second floor box set up for them. And don’t you dare cross over the lines. You sinking all this money into a program that many Jrs and Srs shy away from for a number of reasons, 1st and foremost in an informal study conducted was that it was too hard and the teachers of these classes have no problem stating that fact to the students and their parents. Did you do your homework and ask parents and students why so few sit for these exams? Are the teachers who teach these classes knowledgeable enough to know what the IB testers want tested and relay that to the kids—I think not because they spend way to much time prepping for the PSSA’s.

Why bait and switch, I.S. not I.B.

1st the allegations of disturbed asbestos causing the move in the first place.

2nd the illusion of at least being a whole school in a different building @ Reizenstein.

3rd the addition of 6, 7, 8 graders thereby taking away space that they were trying to make their own.

4th brunch at 10:30 a.m. and being commanded to stay at the school until 3 p.m. in the afternoon even if they have enough credits earned with classes earlier in the day to leave.

Finally, to add insult to injury, limited selections in the course the student can take. My daughter did not change her schedule as the leadership at the school contends. When we received her schedule in Mid August, we noticed immediately that there was not an English class listed. Although many things have changed with regard to graduation requirements, the requirement for 4 years of English did not change. We called, emailed and did everything we could from our end. The 1st week of school brought about 3 changes to her schedule. She was no longer in the classes she selected in her Jr. year. There was even a repeated class offered which we declined. My gifted daughter was assigned to a mainstream English class and that was not acceptable. The only other alternative offered was a PSP English class, but then she could not take her German class that is now only offered one period because the teacher teaches the lower grades as well.

Her principal informed me that she may have to return to her home school, Westinghouse because she’s not taking a language. Only Westinghouse does not even offer German as a class and she has already taken Westinghouse’s highest level class offerings as a Junior. Bait and switch, I signed on for International Studies not the IB degree with the diploma. Mr. Roosevelt you agreed in a letter I signed at Brittany’s GIEP that regular education was not suitable for this child. What are you going to do about her and other students who have had their chosen education tracks removed? If she is prepared for college next year, I will credit her teachers that didn’t abandon ship. But one thing I can say for certain is that she learned that adults talk out of many sides of their mouths and they lie.