On another post Bulldog Forever wrote:
"1. You give Mr. Isler far, far too little credit for the current state of affairs. Do not forget that for nearly Mark Roosevelt's entire tenure Bill drove MR home after each and every board/committee meeting.
When MR was floundering at getting a job at a school district for a time much longer than it took him to complete the rigorous 7 weekend - weekend, not months, not years - Broad Superintendent's academy, it was the John Kerry/Teresa Heinz camp that pushed Bill Isler very directly to lead the test of the Board to hire Roosevelt.
By some great act of coincidence, the Fred Rogers Center at St. Vincent College receives a very very very sizable foundation donation that completes it's capital campaign and literally the house the Isler built is, well, built.
Tit for tat here folks, follow the private money in this."
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Link to Fred Rogers Center:
http://www.fredrogerscenter.org/
IF THERE IS ONE PERSON WHO DESERVES THE BLAME FOR ALL THAT HAS OCCURRED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IT IS ISLER. HE WAS THE PRESIDENT ALL THROUGH THIS TRAGEDY. HE DESTROYED THE BOARD, HIS TRUE LEGACY MAY BE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
On another post Anonymous wrote:
"Someone. Anyone should have checked out Roosevelt before signing a contract with a non-educator to lead one of the largest, and most underperforming districts in the State. Bill Isler used his 'influence' locally and at the state level to maneuver the rest of the Board (poor souls, with few exceptions) into creating Roosevelt's role as "educational" leader, a position for which he had no experience, no expertise, no qualifications at all.
The Secretary of Education waived the requirements for School Superintendency-- and the die was cast. (In fact, it was only the first of many, many decisions to waive PDE requirements for PPS. Politics? Isler?Behind closed doors?) Some of us have the facts.
Very quickly, all in PPS who had educational expertise, experience and qualifications were exited from the district. A whole fresh, new crew, even less experienced and less qualified, was brought to PPS and positioned critically so that there was no threat to Roosevelt's lack of knowledge and experience.
Perhaps we are now seeing the end of this regime and hopefully lessons have been learned. Yes, the district has been 'raped' and our children are paying the price. Let's rally to reconstruct a district that can, if the people choose, become very quickly one of the best in the state as opposed to one of the worst.
Regina Holley is a leader, who with Mark Brentley as an ally, has already begun to challenge the status quo. The other Board members no longer have a leg to stand on when it comes to making decisions on behalf of the education of PPS children."
Mr. Isler never believed in an elected Board. He believed that non-elites did not have the expertise or intelligence to govern. I confronted him with this many times. He by designed worked to make it a rubber stamp Board for the least qualified Superintendent in PPS history. Questioner you comments are correct.
Isler's true legacy was to allow Roosevelt to spend spend and spend well over 100 million, particularly in bricks and mortar. The Board had made a decision after CAPA NO more building, NO more additions. One example he was a part of was the closing of the Sterrett Bldg and move to a house in Reizenstein. Mr. Isler will face the truth about his role in the financial distruction of the District, because people such as Pure Reform will let the public know.
Note: The previous comment (3:27) was posted on the "Buyout" thread which, if deductions there are accurate, we will see the last of non-educators in PPS who have usurped all educational prerogatives as well as the financial where-with-all to set this district on the path to achievement. Again, we know more than enough to do that forthwith, we need only the right leadership. Hopefully, we are an a new path to that goal.
Questioner, you are so right. Zahorchak, former PDE Secretary of Education, waived many rules/policies for PPS. That is how PPS made AYP when Roosevelt was here, PDE made an exception to the rules for PPS to make AYP the 1st time. Nothing happened at PPS without Isler's knowledge and rubber stamp, but there is wayyyyyyy more to this picture. Follow the trail of money from the foundations and political corruptness in Pittsburgh in general....judges, lawyers and foundations all have their hands in PPS monies via Isler and Roosevelt.
And they (PPS) didn't make AYP a second time.
Remember is "Making Progress in Corrective Action II."
It takes two years to get out of Corrective Action and if they changed the rules the first year, its going to take yet another year.
But, does it really matter if still and yet PPS is among the lowest 25 to 30 districts (out of 500) in the State???????
The games people play-- and the beat goes on----
I always knew there was "big money people" somehow involved with the hiring of Mark Roosevelt. I kept trying to figure out why he was hired and how it came about. Now we know the answer.
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