Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Possible vote on reconfiguration on July 21

WPXI reports that the school board is set to vote on a reconfiguration plan today

http://www.wpxi.com/news/24333036/detail.html

However, the agenda review materials do not seem to include the reconfiguration plan, or if they do it is not very prominent in the materials

http://php.pghboe.net/news/index.php/2010/07/12/download-materials-for-the-july-14-2010-agenda-review-meeting/

- Can items be added to the legislative meeting for a vote whether or not they appear in the agenda review?

10 comments:

Questioner said...

The 40 to 50 people at the Tuesday community meeting were asked if any were in favor the the proposal currently before the Board. None of those at the meeting supported the plan, and there was a general consensus that more communication and discussion was needed.

Annette Werner said...

The Parent Hotline helpfully confirmed that the reconfiguraton plan presented at the June Education Committee meeting is NOT on the agenda for today and that the Board requested more time to consider the proposal.

Anonymous said...

Thank both of you for clarification. Ms. Werner or Ms. Fine- I wish both of you were representing our school district as elected Board members-can one or the other move to another section of town?

The below quote was found at the end of the article for teacher training in the post gazette-but as usual-the Pittsburgh BROAD of Education housed in the Bellfield facility/building can change to suit their fancy of the moment-the August board meeting should be a gem with all of this on their plate and add the superintendent’s new approved monetary bonuses for his annual contractual agreement.
From the article-stated at the end
“The proposal, along with the district's plan to restructure East End secondary schools may be presented to the board for approval next month, official said.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10201/1073901-298.stm#ixzz0uKao1S2N

Anonymous said...

A grass roots movement is needed to change the school board members and get rid of Roosevelt & his Broad flunkys. They have never considered the public opinion and never will.

But as long as our residents believe the PR machine, MR will continue to do what ever he wants.

Questioner said...

The argument has been made that because there was a meeting at Reizenstein, at Peabody, and at Westinghouse, that public opinion was considered.

However, alloting some time to hear public opinion is meaningless if it does not affect decisions that are made. The proposal is exactly what we were hearing the administration wanted before the first public meeting was ever held.

A good start for truly obtaining public opinion is to hold a meeting about the plan that has been proposed. Instead of dividing participants up into small groups to just discuss issues among themselves, actually take questions from the community. Answer questions and address concerns about the plan. Be open to revising the plan.

Anonymous said...

What is the phone number for the Parent Hotline. Ms. Annette Werner or someone, could you please post the Parent Hotline number on this blog in response to my inquiry.

THANK YOU !

Questioner said...

The number is 412-622-7920 or you can email at parenthotline@pghboe.net.

Questioner said...

The number is 412-622-7920 or you can email at parenthotline@pghboe.net.

Anonymous said...

QUESTIONER STATE D UNDER BLOG TOPIC--Possible vote on reconfiguration on July 21"
“A good start for truly obtaining public opinion is to hold a meeting about the plan that has been proposed. Instead of dividing participants up into small groups to just discuss issues among themselves, actually take questions from the community. Answer questions and address concerns about the plan. Be open to revising the plan.”
July 21, 2010 1:14 PM

This sounds to mean like divide and conquer posturing –control the question and answer-limited feedback. Cute little small groups allot crowd control and verbal control. The small group concept is an appeasement -it is the academic answer for power control and lack unification efforts by grassroots movements. When, I was in one small group-I felt alienation because this is supposed to be a LARGE GROUP MEETING. Appeasement –



As you notice no changes or adjustments to the proposed plan-it is still the PPS Management Plan, ONLY the elected Board Members can comment, and yes, THEY will vote for the superintendent and Union Plan-because this is a JOINT ENDEAVORS . A+ worried about teacher placement at the schools and concerned about CTE high school faculty-they have been drinking the Kool-Aid and eating the bait.

They will be the unified front-Tarka and Roosevelt-“two peas in a pod”.

They will be like heroes to academic communities around the country.

Betcha next week they will be running their publicity tour-having unfired answers to all A+ questions-with ease, poise with all aspects of the media present shining the light upon their rationale answers.
However, they will never jointly take questions and answers at a big town hall style meeting.

Just asking -how many of our big management at the PPS facility and Union -they do make huge salaries- - have purchased tons of stock in Gates companies in private undisclosed accounts-off limit to public filing and probing since PPS agreement. It was found in one state Board members were approving contracts for curriculum contracts while quietly and privately investing their own money in the curriculum company’s stock on the market. This is not meant to be a serious accusation. I do believe the powers that are running our district in varied organizational levels are true, fair, and decent individuals. Just because they are making the decisions does mean any implication of whatsoever.

But, the Mighty and the rich and powerful all have the hidden accounts. Many feel that can be a conflict of interest-look at our Senators and other elected officials. In regular corporate companies, this could be devastating.

Anonymous said...

Good luck getting in touch on the parent hotline. This is posted on PPS website:

"Effective Monday, July 19, 2010 through Friday, July 23, 2010 the Parent Hotline will be unable to verify parent/guardian information due to system upgrades. This will impact our ability to service some callers. The Parent Hotline office will be open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm; only callers with general inquiries can be assisted. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding."

Nice timing!