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"The accusation was made that I do not care. I do care," Ms. Lane said. "I wouldn't be here with you tonight if I didn't. We may not agree on all these things, but we do agree that we all want quality schools for all our kids."
She does not care, she never did. She is on the exact same page as Roosevelt however she is not as politically savvy as him. He knew when to get out of town, she was handed the Broad "baton" she is close enough to full retirement to retire in a few months. Maybe she was savvy to figure out to take the money and run.
Win win for both of them, she was willing to take the fall.
Quality schools?? That isn't a blip on their radar regarding priorities. Hiring contractors and layers of management while laying off teachers defines how Broad, Gates, Roosevelt & Lane roll.
Private sector (AKA: "Job Creators") make money, teachers and public employees are let go. It is advanced trickle down economics.
I had such high hopes for Dr.Lane and now, I don't even know why, She has given us more of the same; more micromanagement coming from central office, more circling of the wagons to protect positions in administration that are true wastes of taxpayer money, more money for research, more money for consultants, and more disregard of those who she should have at the top of her priorities: students and their families.
Langley? They're playing taps as we speak.
And Dr.Lane? Just another day towards a nicely padded retirement.
Can't anyone see that all the community meetings in the world are not going to change anything. It's a done deal. Lane will go shortly, just like Roosevelt. Neither were from this city, nor do they care about Pittsburgh neighborhoods. What don't you get???
I can't agree with the negative comments about Dr. Lane because they are extreme. "No soul" really? That kind of post weakens any arguement. The sad reality is that, like many districts, PPS is facing financial difficulties and is unable to do what some other districts are doing to ease the strain (Peters has a per sport activity fee for example).
Both Lane and Roosevelt made decisions that have turned out to be bad choices (CEP, Kaplan, possibly America's Choice, PELA, bloated admin, etc) but they were misguided. In Roosevelt's case, it seems likely that he really believed he could transform urban public education and Pittsburgh would only be the beginning of that job. Let's not forget the responsibility of the Board in all this.
Was there any talk about PCA/Greenway and getting the ownership of that turned over to the City of Pittsburgh for a public safety hub? The city pays more than $1M per year to rent facilities now. That's good cash flow that city taxpayers would like to capitalize upon.
Put EMS, BBI and other city public safety services into Greenway.
Then, Langley can be a 6-12 school with a high school city-wide public safety magnet, leaning upon the close facilities of public safety HQ.
Re: "In Roosevelt's case, it seems likely that he really believed he could transform urban public education..."
- That does seem likely. But when it came down to specifics it was irresponsible to push ahead on a large scale on nothing more than a hunch. For example, it would have made more sense to try the ALA model on one school and get it to work before launching 8 ALA's.
There is a national report on the progress of Pittsburgh's ALAs (along with data on two other districts.
When you look at the progress of, say, the 3rd grade in the first year and those same students at 7th grade, you will be discouraged to see the lack of progress over time for the same students.
Pittsburgh does not report the data that way; but, it makes sense to do so.
Also despite the claims of more progress at ALAs than other schools, they are still the lowest scoring elementary (K-5, K-8) schools in the District. (PPS has also dropped the ALA designation on its reports.)
The Roosevelt administration must be embarrassed at the lack of progress, relatively speaking, at any and all PPS schools over the past five years.
11 comments:
PG article on the same topic:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11257/1174488-53-2.stm
"The accusation was made that I do not care. I do care," Ms. Lane said. "I wouldn't be here with you tonight if I didn't. We may not agree on all these things, but we do agree that we all want quality schools for all our kids."
She does not care, she never did. She is on the exact same page as Roosevelt however she is not as politically savvy as him. He knew when to get out of town, she was handed the Broad "baton" she is close enough to full retirement to retire in a few months. Maybe she was savvy to figure out to take the money and run.
Win win for both of them, she was willing to take the fall.
Quality schools?? That isn't a blip on their radar regarding priorities. Hiring contractors and layers of management while laying off teachers defines how Broad, Gates, Roosevelt & Lane roll.
Private sector (AKA: "Job Creators") make money, teachers and public employees are let go. It is advanced
trickle down economics.
I had such high hopes for Dr.Lane and now, I don't even know why, She has given us more of the same; more micromanagement coming from central office, more circling of the wagons to protect positions in administration that are true wastes of taxpayer money, more money for research, more money for consultants, and more disregard of those who she should have at the top of her priorities: students and their families.
Langley? They're playing taps as we speak.
And Dr.Lane? Just another day towards a nicely padded retirement.
What a disappointment.
Lane has no soul, she is just going through the motions. She does not care about children in the PPS
Can't anyone see that all the community meetings in the world are not going to change anything. It's a done deal. Lane will go
shortly, just like Roosevelt.
Neither were from this city, nor do they care about Pittsburgh
neighborhoods. What don't you get???
City Taxpayer
I can't agree with the negative comments about Dr. Lane because they are extreme. "No soul" really? That kind of post weakens any arguement. The sad reality is that, like many districts, PPS is facing financial difficulties and is unable to do what some other districts are doing to ease the strain (Peters has a per sport activity fee for example).
Both Lane and Roosevelt made decisions that have turned out to be bad choices (CEP, Kaplan, possibly America's Choice, PELA, bloated admin, etc) but they were misguided. In Roosevelt's case, it seems likely that he really believed he could transform urban public education and Pittsburgh would only be the beginning of that job. Let's not forget the responsibility of the Board in all this.
The article includes:
Ms. Lane said maps detailing where students would go will be released during a Sept. 27 school board workshop.
- - -
If all the high schools were without any feeder patterns, then things get interesting and the families and students get choice.
I like to bark about choice -- and that means no feeder patterns at all, no maps required.
Of course, there are choices already.
Was there any talk about PCA/Greenway and getting the ownership of that turned over to the City of Pittsburgh for a public safety hub? The city pays more than $1M per year to rent facilities now. That's good cash flow that city taxpayers would like to capitalize upon.
Put EMS, BBI and other city public safety services into Greenway.
Then, Langley can be a 6-12 school with a high school city-wide public safety magnet, leaning upon the close facilities of public safety HQ.
So I have to ask. Langley is in District 9. What does Floyd McCrea, the district representative, have to say about all this?
And if Sheraden residents don't like his answer, they should immediately start a campaign to get him un-elected the next time around.
The Board members care nothing about what parents have to say. But they do care about winning elections.
It all boils down to this. If you are a city resident, and if you really care about your schools, don't let the current board get away with anything!
Hold them responsible. And do something meaningful!
Connect Mark Brentley's campaign and offer to help. Contact the challengers in the other districts and offer to help.
It actually wouldn't take much to push the old pro-Roosevelt clique out. If only some people would help the challengers.
Re: "In Roosevelt's case, it seems likely that he really believed he could transform urban public education..."
- That does seem likely. But when it came down to specifics it was irresponsible to push ahead on a large scale on nothing more than a hunch. For example, it would have made more sense to try the ALA model on one school and get it to work before launching 8 ALA's.
There is a national report on the progress of Pittsburgh's ALAs (along with data on two other districts.
When you look at the progress of, say, the 3rd grade in the first year and those same students at 7th grade, you will be discouraged to see the lack of progress over time for the same students.
Pittsburgh does not report the data that way; but, it makes sense to do so.
Also despite the claims of more progress at ALAs than other schools, they are still the lowest scoring elementary (K-5, K-8) schools in the District. (PPS has also dropped the ALA designation on its reports.)
The Roosevelt administration must be embarrassed at the lack of progress, relatively speaking, at any and all PPS schools over the past five years.
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