On another post Anonymous wrote:
"Educational leadership consultant Judy Johnston has been named chair of the board of A+ Schools, a local public education advocacy organization
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12017/1204090-100.stm#ixzz1jlZOWQ4C "
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
23 comments:
Interesting... She's everywhere.
Now PPS has a fox in the hen house. Talk about a conflict of interest.
Chelsea Wagner new secretary already seems spread thin.
Do these people get paid for this?
Are there any perks?
Oh my goodness!
Judy Johnston, Jim Turner and Chelsa Wagner? It would be difficult to imagine worse choices for what has the potential to be a "watchdog" for the District. The current reservations about A+ Schools have just been exponentially compounded. Sad, sad, sad choices.
It looks like A+ Schools has just lost its key advocates, voices and models for African American students in Pittsburgh Public Schools ! ?
How could this happen when these are the children being seriously under-served in PPS?
Does anyone know what the process was for nominating/selecting/electing this slate of new people into these positions?
Who nominates?
Who elects?
What is the accountability structure?
How is funding decided?
How much (total) does it take to fund A+ Schools?
Judy J. is not the only appointment compromised by their current or prior PPS ties.
I'm guessing that the author of the "how we got" series could lay this out nicely for us.
Remember this quote:
"Tracey Reed Armant, 45, of Greenfield, whose two children attend Minedeo PreK-5, said she's glad there will be continuity in the district's plans.
"I don't think there will be any major changes in direction or long periods of time where we have to figure out again where we're going," said Armant, a volunteer for education watchdog group A+ Schools. "Having children who are so young in the school system, that's really comforting.""
It is from the Tribune Review article about Linda Lane's appointment as Superintendent.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_713648.html
None of these choices were accidental.
No, but I am certain that Susan Brownlee will be an effective watchdog to protect the Roosevelt/Lane legacy:
"Q. You once were quoted as saying the racial gap in achievement is the major challenge facing local education. Is that still the case?
A. I don't think you can effectively address the racial achievement gap if you are not looking at school-wide and district-wide change. I think it would be more accurate to say, as Mark Roosevelt does, that this is the civil rights issue of our day. And I agree with that. That comes from my very deep belief that education is the single most important opportunity that children do or do not have to become productive healthy citizens."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06190/704500-28.stm
I never did understand how you could lead the charge to ride John Thompson out of town - proverbial pitchfork in hand - but stand idly by when real and direct violations were occurring at Westinghouse this fall.
Where was the moral outrage? These kids had no schedules Susan. When it really mattered you and frankly the rest of the local foundation community turned a blind eye to racial injustice.
Watchdog - you bet...for the Gates and Broad foundations.
I heard the Foundations are very angry about what happened at Westinghouse. Maybe Susan Brownlee is getting involved to work on problems.
it will take some looking to be sure but it seems that the 2-year-term limit has not been enforced for some board members. is that possible? it seems king, germany, lesgold have been on the board more that 2 years.
It's not hard to find who was on the board of A Plus each year- the directors are listed in the front of each yearly Report to the Community, which are available on the A Plus website.
The terms are 2 years and apparently board members can serve multiple terms. This guess is based on some members having been on the Board since 2005.
Judy Johnson, she was a Highly paid consultant to the PPS,ex admimistrator. What a joke
Could not find the by-laws published anywhere on the A+ site. Apparently multiple 2 year terms are acceptable.
This whole mess just makes my head hurt . Teachers are just trying to keep up with everything we have to do. Maybe we should all be consultants.. Judy Johnson just walked around school buildings with administrators. Great work if you can get it!
Jim Turner also made money off of PPS as a consultant.
Board President Sherry Hazuda has been very politically connected with the Wagners for years.
Collectively this set of appointments is all about covering your back trail.
This is an old school Gates' foundation strategy, by the way. Gates' funds Aspen and Aspen in turn provides reports that speak glowingly about the progress being made at projects Gates' funded.
The difference really is that A+ is drawing on local dollars, but it still provides cover to the local foundations to say that they did not make a bad bet in backing the Roosevelt/Lane/Fischetti/Weiss administration.
Get a grip local foundations - we were about #470 in the State before Mark Roosevelt and despite all of the grandstanding, that needle hasn't moved. The sad reality is that the Fund for Excellence picked the wrong horse for this race.
J. Johnston and J Turner reaped hundreds of thousands from PPS taxpayers to fund a few days a year of vacuous consultancies.
Document a single result___there were NONE. So, questioning the why of these appointments/elections is legitimate, don't you think?
The challenge can be put to Foundations who are believing the PR and not the reality. do the work, please!
My former boss used to refer to Roosevelt/Lane/Fischetti/Weiss chain of overpriced, ineffective consultants as the "curriculum-industrial complex."
I'm sure in this context there's not a single socials studies teacher at PPS that couldn't easily explain to their students why those with vested economic interests are popping up on A+ Schools "oversight" board.
The more pressure we put on this crew by reporting patterns of questionable decisions made by it - see the "how we got there series" - the greater their efforts will be to perpetuate the cash cow.
Often our comments our focused on the big deals - like Kaplan - but don't think for a second that greed and patronage stops there.
Solicitor Weiss once threw a bone to one of the attorneys in the building as he to have the Board give them a contract to "accredit" school police. Not only was the suggestion absurd on it's face - there are only two agencies that can accredit police forces in PA - but nothing useful was ever produced. Not a single procedure.
I agree with you anon, but if you can't get media to report about it, then how will it all make an impact?
Let's be real, ok? Our nation is full of corrupt leadership. PPS is a small microcosm. The corruption is off the scale.
And Judy Johnston now with A+?? What a complete and utter joke.
What "data" does Judy Johnson have to show that proves her time and money paid to her by PPS was well spent? We all must have "data" as teacher's are being told constantly!
Post a Comment