On another post Anonyous wrote:
"November 25, 2008: Deputy Director of Education for the Gates Foundation, John Deasy, is hired to be the keynote speaker at the January 27. 2009 district wide inservice at the Convention Center. Deasy's task is to “speak to PPS teachers and administrators about the work that we are doing in PPS and the importance of staying our course with reform efforts in PPS.”
The Board approves submission of a required, six-year Strategic Plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (POE) for the period of 2008-2014. The resolution caveats that “it includes initiatives that are already underway, as well as initiatives that the District will need to plan, design, and begin to implement in the coming six years.”
It was the season to give thanks, especially if you are friends with the Chief of Staff.
The Board approves a contract with “contract with Meade Johnson, a marketing and communications consultant, to build upon the work completed this year in developing the Welcome Back to School materials to inform PreK-12 parents. Services will be to support and assess any adjustments that need to be made in the process of compiling school-based materials and District information, the creation of updated materials and distribution of materials for the Welcome Back to School binder and District-wide calendar for all PPS families.”
Also ratified is a contract for $422,000 with graphic design firm Dennis Moran Design to provide "on-call" graphic design services for the Communications and Marketing Department, schools and other District departments. Services may also include photography, writing print, broadcast, web production services specialized printing/promotional services, research, placement of media space and direct mail services.”
Also finding a seat at the Chief of Staff's Thanksgiving table was graphic design firm Kolbrener USA for $270,000 to “provide "on-call" graphic design services for the Communications and Marketing Department, schools and other District departments. Services may also include photography, writing print, broadcast, web production services, specialized printing/promotional services, research, placement of media space and direct mail services.”
And just when you thought you ate enough turkey, the Board approves a $370,000 engagement with graphic design firm CPI Creative to “provide "on-call" graphic design services for the Communications and Marketing Department, schools and other District departments. Services may also include photography, writing print, broadcast, web production services, specialized printing, promotional services, research, placement of media space and direct mail services.”
The financial statements again warn that “significant efforts must be made to reduce operating costs”, urge “an even greater premium on cutting expenses”, and call for sale of closed school buildings to be a “priority.”
Mark Brentley questions Mark Roosevelt's 2008-09 goals: “Anywhere else, any other corporate world, where a director requested information, that employee would have some major, major problems, with not providing information. But under this present atmosphere of this leadership, it goes on. He can do whatever he wants. And so when you do something like that, I am asking, what is our role here, why don't we just all go home and just say, "This is Mark Roosevelt, go do what you want, make the mistakes that you want, we will blame it on somebody else," because there is no accountability here, and so where do you go when you want to at least ask a question, without getting beat up.”
Randall Taylor adds that “I think that we have come up woefully short on our Superintendent evaluations for the last three years.” Taylor makes a motion “that the Board begin a process, within contractual obligations, to create a more public and inclusive Superintendent evaluation process, with the first report by March 2009.” The motion fails with only Brentley and Taylor voting yes."
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11 comments:
Think of all the graphics and communications employees PPS could have had "on call" for this kind of money. Just as CMU students designed the sci tech school they could have designed PPS's marketing materials, for even less than a regular employee. In terms of accountability- did it occur to any Board member at the end of the year to ask to see what $422k or $370k or $270k had bought?
As the "How we got where we are" series progresses it will be interesting to see if these contracts were renewed year after year and if there was any real thought given or discussion conducted about renewals.
Was this the year we (parents) got the really expensive 3 ring binder? When I first got it all I could think of was what a waste of money!
I still feel that way.
PR seems to be a virus striking all "reform" districts associated with Gates:
North Carolina District Uses Race To The Top, Gates Foundation Funds For PR Campaign.
In the "Answer Sheet" blog in the Washington Post (9/19), Valerie Strauss writes that North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District has used Race to the Top Money, "which wasn't intended to fund public relations efforts -- and $200,000 in Gates Foundation money" to publicly campaign for an end to "public opposition" of the district's "school reform program, which includes a slew of new standardized tests." The Charlotte district is one of four finalist counties in the US. Strauss concludes the district has spent "lots of money to convince the skeptical public that that bad assessment system is really a good one," adding "behold the face of modern school reform."
My goodness, it actually looks like Charlotte's campaign is a bargain.
The accumulated total amount spent on PR in PPS during the Broad/Gates regime should be a front page headline this week when the PSSA and AYP results go online at PDE.
That might shock the public, parents, community out of the current lethargy.
Does anyone still have the binder? If so, is the name of the company preparing the binder included? (Most likely it would be!). The binder was a pretty silly idea- many people are trying to cut back on paper and get information online, and no one has time to file updates from year to year. Did anyone ask ahead of time if there was a large urban school district that had successful adopted a binder system and stuck with it for 4-5 years?
What was the purpose of the BINDER? What was to be kept in the binder? Could be a great idea for many many reasons! Quick reference source for assessment data, student work, exemplars, rubrics, etc., capacity to follow progress day to day, month to month, year to year. (There is nothing pertaining to individual students that is available online and that is what parents need to track their child's progress.)
The problem would be the need for an accompanying three hole punch.
No it was nothing like that, it was general PPS/school rules and policies. Nothing individualized, the binders were interchangeable.
"A $294,000 bid is awarded for masonry restoration at Fort Pitt."
So the masonry was restored for $294,000? Was that so that it would be easier to sell?
I hope they break even on the sale.
When it is sold, they will need another school in Garfield for all of the children in the hundreds of new homes right next to Fort Pitt, you know, the new "Garfield Commons" development.
Or maybe the plan IS to adapt Rogers to an elementary building. Wonder how much that will cost? Or is Rogers also on the "for sale" list?
Maybe the will rent each of these schools to Propel.
Was the masonry an urgent issue? If not it would have been wiser to wait until a decision was made on the future of the school. It has been clear at least since 2008 that further school closings would be needed. The whole pattern of investing money into buildings only to change course and dispose of the buildings a couple of years later needs to stop.
Look at Randall Taylor. I think we forget there were some people screaming out for accountibility. It is not too late. District has on agenda to give money to RAND Corp. for evaluation on Summer Dreamers Academy. What about evaluation of PELAs, ALAs, before the evaluation of a summer day care program and jobs program.
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