On the August "Start a new post," Anonymous said:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100810/NEWS02/8100364/Education-Department-finalists-include-4-with-Des-Moines-school-ties
Linda Lane too?
Four current or former administrators from the Des Moines public school district and one rural Iowa superintendent are finalists for the job of director of the Iowa Department of Education, Gov. Chet Culver's office said.
Monday, in response to a public-records request, Culver's office released the names of the finalists to replace Judy Jeffrey, who retired in May. They are:
- Todd Abrahamson, superintendent of the Sigourney school district.
- Linda Lane, former deputy superintendent of the Des Moines school district and now deputy superintendent of accountability for the Pittsburgh, school district.
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16 comments:
Shame. If PPS has only one upper echelon administrator who understands both our kids and our teachers, it's Linda Lane. If she leaves the district, I can officially say....there is no hope.
Her classroom experience gives her an edge others don't have here.
This is what someone in Iowa wrote in response to this article. Note the comments about Lane and PPS!
Mellie08 wrote:
Wow...talk about a weak crop. I'm surprised there is no one from the Dept. of Ed. - Interim Director Kevin Fangman would be a much better choice than any of the four from DMPS. I'm not familiar with the guy from Sigourney. None of the four finalists associated with DMPS are very good - Munoz & Szakacs have been demoted, Lewis was forced out, and Lane was passed over. In Pittsburgh, Lane is associated with the standardized test-crazed policies of the Gates and Broad Foundations. Not where Iowa needs to go - we need to eschew the top-down policies of the federal gov't and reinforce our belief in educating the whole child, not just narrowing our focus to reading & math. Obviously, those subjects are important but we need to teach them by incorporating them into other subjects like science, social studies & fine arts because those subjects are being neglected while we force feed our students prescriptive reading & math programs.
8/10/2010 11:55:50
Old Timer said...@ August 11, 2010 7:25 AM
Shame. If PPS has only one upper echelon administrator who understands both our kids and our teachers, it's Linda Lane. If she leaves the district, I can officially say no hope.
Very true in minor aspects-she is definitely student friendly regarding weather related delays in the winter. She attends as Roosevelt’s replacement at many Agenda meetings and parent group meetings.
Is she the only civilized Broadie from the Fast track Broad Foundation-many see her as the voice box of Roosevelt-just because she has taught and been a Principal gives her a pass.
She rates the teachers and principals-I feel she has done a moderate to poor job-because she has the proper certification to do the major damage to the careers of teachers and principals with and unsatisfactory rating.
This past year many Principals should have been given poor ratings. She started out great-but fizzled.
But- is time for her to move on-and replace with another Broadie?
Anonymous said... @ August 11, 2010 12:19 PM
Fabulous excerpt from The Iowa article-the eloquence of the reader’s written comment is superb descriptive writing and excellent verbatim what really IS as the status of our US Educational system from local to federal..
It's funny how the more test-crazed various districts become, the worse they seem to do on tests.
Thanks to the comments of anon with regards to Linda's background in our district. I'd heard her speak before and was impressed by her comments about teachers and students. Apparently however, speeches and actions did not correlate?
Thanks to the comments of anon with regards to Linda's background in our district. I'd heard her speak before and was impressed by her comments about teachers and students. Apparently however, speeches and actions did not correlate?
Questioner your comment about districts doing more poorly the more test crazed they become struch home with me. Neither my high achieving student or my barely-getting-by child take 4Sights or PSSA tests seriously. Ask a few kids and I am sure you will hear what I heard more than once..."I just start to fill circles in when I get tired of the test." And, the kids know the PSSA has no impct to the report card or GPA so there is nothing to lose.
Is there a reason local news doesn't find these stories newsworthy? With all the PR, change, lackluster gains, and failed promises and goals, it seems like wtf, it is just PPS, so what can you expect? Someone needs to hold this administration, and board to a standard.
Within one year, we found out that the superintendent and deputy superintendent have been published/outed Actively seeking to leave the district they are "so committed" to Why the free pass?
We pay, they play.
I think that Mark Brentley made it clear last month when he said that the board had been contacted before about Mr.Roosevelt and in reading between the lines, it's somewhat clear that he has applied elsewhere before.
As for Dr.Lane or any other administrator, I'm not so sure I find fault in the idea of being upwardly mobile. Lane, Lopez and many others have come from other districts and it would seem to me that the days of us having "home grown talent" moving up the administrative ladder are over. Heck, even or superintendent is not a Pittsburgher. I'm not sure that anyone can begrudge another individual the right to find greener pastures although in this situation, I am always reminded of the Schenley parent who reminded Mr.Roosevelt about "making decisions, leaving town and leaving the rest of us to live with them", or something of that sort. A very salient point. You would hope that those in charge spend a great deal of time studying the dynamics of Pittsburgh neighborhoods and traditions. You would hope. Where Schenley was concerned, and certainly in the case of the current configuration plans, one must wonder at times.
As for the media--we are in an era of rip and read journalism. That is, get the press release and just present it as news.
It's fine to have administrators who come and go, but we need board members and citizens who will protect what we know is good.
Yes. The killer is the board. There is an expression about the ones who can hurt you the most are your friends.
My solution applies in this thread: All PPS Board Members should be ineligible for any other ballot position for two years following their terms on the PPS Board.
Call it what you wish: Leapfrogs, power-grabs, ladder climbing, bettering one's self professionally, and so on is fine for MOST. But, if PPS Board service was known to be a 'terminal position' -- then the characters who have aspirations would seek other pathways. This change to the home rule charter would change the tone of the board and PPS in significant ways. It would dampen the 'grandstanding' at board meetings among other things.
Those that want stepping stones to power should practice and harbor influences within industry, or with authorities, the party infrastructure, NPOs and even in our places of worship -- BUT NOT with the future of our kids and the schools.
But there was really only one board member who did use the board to go on to other things, right? One other who may well have been happy to remain on the school board but was bumped out by that other member. And maybe another or two who would have liked to use it as a stepping stone but things didn't pan out.
Right now I can think of at least five Board members who moved onto higher political positions over the past ten years___and even more in previous years.
None of those that Roosevelt brought in care about Pittsburgh. They are using this position as a stepping stone. It is a shame that they are leaving the district in shambles 'on their way through.' Lane is no different from any of the others. She talks a good game, and then does damage from within. I think there is reason that she was 'passed over' in Iowa. It would not be a bad thing for Pittsburgh if Iowa chose to take her back now.
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