It was announced at today's public hearing that agenda review materials will now be posted on the PPS website on the Monday prior to each month's aganda review. Go to www.pghboe.net, then the "Notes and news" tab. PPS is to be applauded for this advance in transparency and A Plus Schools commended for its role in making this information available.
Here are the links to this month's items:
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/14311059122535553/lib/14311059122535553/Board%20Agenda%20Preview%20Packets/april2009/AgendaReview-Business-Finance-4-21-09.pdf
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/14311059122535553/lib/14311059122535553/Board%20Agenda%20Preview%20Packets/april2009/AgendaReviewEducation-4-21-09.pdf
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/14311059122535553/lib/14311059122535553/Board%20Agenda%20Preview%20Packets/april2009/AgendaReview-Mt.OliverIntermediate-4-21-09.pdf
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7 comments:
The first link is 74 pages.
We need a distiller.
Want to volunteer?
Transparency. It takes a lot of pages.
And we're glad to have them!
Recycled electrons rule the world, not pages of text. :)
Yes, we are glad that the content is out in the open.
I don't mean to be a buzz kill. We need the human interface to come alive, next.
Without agenda review materials available, it was often difficult to make sense of what was going on during the televised agenda reviews. And of course with no knowledge of the issues to be raised at agenda review it was impossible to contact board representatives in advance about these issues.
Here's an example of the information that can be found in the agenda review (educational committee portion pages 182-185). The magnet lottery for 9th grade is now giving an extra weight to applicants from existing PPS. I wouldn't have known this was even a possibility if I had not been one of the few parents at an informational meeting held during spring break, when someone else attending the meeting made this suggestion. Most people probably know nothing of this change.
While the existing preference (move to the top of the list) for students continuing on from an 8th grade program is understandable, I find the weight for existing PPS students troubling. Families whose children attend for example a K-8 religious school are taxpayers just like those whose children attend PPS for K-8, and should have the same shot at a magnet school if that is their choice. If a goal of PPS is to increase enrollment, procedures for greater rather than lesser inclusiveness should be chosen.
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