On another post Anonymous wrote:
new related topic-- The Website?
I know we let go of most of the tech staff but the website with over year old information does not look like a modern school district. Again, cutting librarians and their supervisor makes pps look bad. All I can figure out is that the broadies dont know, and the public doesnt care that the information is over a year old.
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23 comments:
I've heard that there's a new website in the works? Or at least a complete redo of this one?
However I have no idea of the timeframe for rollout of any site. And new vs. better is always a concern. Be interesting to see who the site seems to be aimed at -- easy for parents? impressive to outside funders?
There may be a committee of parents formed from the larger EFA group working on pointing out deficiencies. There are so many small items that have been left go that maybe all the site needs is a little attention. For example, an elementary school still has a teacher listed who has been retired and living out of state for more than 4 years. The board meetings live option has not worked since sometime in 2011, all that needs done there is to remove the option from the menu. I know that was reported to the hotline at least once in the 2011-12 school year and the hotline transferred the caller to a tech dept. The issues with teh website are not big deals but there are many little deals that make it annoying to use.
So parents are going to take an active role in the website saga, but when it comes to teacher furloughs and larger class sizes, they are nowhere to be found.
Yeah, makes perfect sense.
LOLOLOL, yes, see all the parents out taking action about the website.
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The website speaks volumes to Technology Director Mark Campbell's priorities. We spared no expense in DOUBLING our printing/copying cost with a no-bid sweetheart deal for Xerox.
Nothing in this district makes sense anymore, it's all about fulfilling goals outlined by grants to keep the money coming...and to put feathers in the district leaders proverbial "caps" so they can move on to bigger and better personal goals....more and more senseless evidence collection initiatives constantly dumped upon everyone all in the guise of improving "teacher effectiveness" and "inter-rater reliability" to positively impact student performance. Yet the real evidence shows that student performance is not improving but rather swiftly declining. The focus on student needs and true effective classroom pedagogy has actually been lost as teachers are under increased pressure to prove themselves by displaying "evidence" in redundant components of the RISE rubric...constantly deciphering and categorizing the minutest details of their teaching practice and forced to engage in lengthy conversations of whether one small piece of practice evidence falls under component 1a, 3c, 2b, etc, etc....instead of reflecting on the overall lesson and asking the simple question "Did the students actually learn the intended content?" All this meaningless trivial categorization, wasted time engaging in professional developments while being pulled out of the classroom, and enduring constant "cutting edge" trainings which have little to no impact on actual student performance occurs at the expense of Pittsburgh's children receiving a quality education and also to the declining physical and mental health of employees as their stress levels are at an all time high as they are forced to engage in these practices. Is this the "quality teaching environment" that you would want your own child to endure?
Getting parents involved in website improvement planning was likely a district idea. A nice fairly harmless way to let parents think what they want matters and that movement is possible. Parents are also likely to be so used to the deficiencies they just accept them.
On the teacher furlough and class size issue, several worries might be preventing more open outrage. If we want more teachers returned to the classroom and a decrease to the max number of students in a class at all levels, where do we suggest the board get the money? If we complain it has to be to Harrisburg to get anywhere. We can point out to the board that we do not like what they are spending money on all we want and get the same answer that the funding is targeted. Will the only option to be an increase to taxpayers living in the city? Every complaint should be accompanied by a solution and I am afraid parents are lacking in solutions.
Parents of yesteryear, like journalists, didn't take stock answers. That is, they didn't buy the "We've looked high and low to save money, but he simply had to cut teachers." It would have been laughed at 30 years ago but it flies today. While I doubt that the PG's Eleanor Chute ever asked a deeper, more probing question, I doubt parents even cared to address the issue at board meetings.
Solutions?
You mean like trimming some of the 700+ administrators NOT in the schools? Do you mean that since we cut many of them, we can also cut any staff they may have had, too?
Yeah, that's a solution.
It's a solution to remember that education is teachers and students, period.
It's not building administrators who now don't even employ discipline.
It's not central administration whose days consist of paperwork, getting their iTunes accounts in order, a cookout in the courtyard, more paperwork and oh, a few character assassinations of teachers. This is the "pork" they are talking about when real corporations look to do the trimming.
But not in Pittsburgh. These people somehow amazingly keep their jobs....and you ask for solutions????
Yes, Campbell will throw a few crumbs to parents...a way for you to feel "empowered."
Between the moral and ethical corruption to theIdn corporate politics, what an absolute joke this district is.
I agree that the admin is extremely bloated and needs to be reduced. So who should I call to say that we need to reduce by 75% just to start. Our only recourse is to elect the right people to the board. Has anyone heard names floated to fill seats up for election?
Anon 10:36, I get your frustration, but please don't question mark me. I did not ask for solutions I merely stated that we parents are lacking in solutions to offer. If we can't appreciate each other's position I am afraid the few parents in some buildings will just throw up their hands and say the problem is bigger than we can handle. Once parents felt they truly had input into the process of educating their kids, we felt we had influence. Not much anymore though. Many got disinterested when they were expected to be the voice against maintainging the seniority system. Others just want to protect the school their kids attend. Other reasons all the time that drive parents away.
As a parent it is frustrating, we call, complain, go to PTA meetings, get ignored and finally leave the district without one person asking why.
They don't care.
They simply don't need you as a parent. I've heard principals say if a parent doesn't like the school they can leave and unfortunately that's what's happening. There will always be a subgroup of people who have no choice and can't leave the city. They have no voice and no administrator needs to care because they will always be there. If the numbers drop they can hire more consultants and fire more teachers. In the end Master Gates and his minions want to see these schools closed anyway to make way for privately run schools.
Didn't the school district just pay a ton of money for this website in 2008-09, The justification for the expense was to make all the school and the districts pages the same and easily navigable. At that time they took away the ability for schools to control their own websites and everything was supposed to be run from central office to ensure that these sort of issues would not happen anymore. Central office would monitor and remove old and outdated information because the individual schools were unable or unwilling to monitor their own sites and information.
It will likely take a march on Bellefield by parents and teachers in numbers, and it will have to be sustained. The Roosevelt playbook is clear: make your moves, let parents vent for a while, numbers will be small and they may even get a little coverage but it will not be sustained, and move right on.
That's the problem.
Look what Roosevelt did to Schenley.
Now the board is selling the building.
What a bunch of charlatans.
even though they work for the pubic, at public expense and in the employ of the public, they still screw taxpayers.
Amazing they can get away with it. They bank on apathy of the public and the media.
Yes, and staff who were involved with this have moved on so it is time to do it again maybe?
It is possible that all that is needed is removal of obsolete information and identification of links that take you nowhere followed by training for those interested in navigation. Do districts even do trainings for parents anymore? What about the Parent Portal?
Anon 9:16
"Anonymous said...
Getting parents involved in website improvement planning was likely a district idea."
Actually, I have been requesting Web site improvements for over 8 years. Every couple of years, there's a meeting, then the people are laid off and nothing happens for a while. I have always found the "Web guys" some of the most responsible and concerned with meeting users' needs.
BTW, school content and errors (retired teachers listed) are the responsibility of the school. District content, such as ancient policy papers and NO WAY to see even the books your child is using is the district.
The truth is out there--It honestly doesnt take much surfing to realize that our district's communications are nothing but press releases and that the website is anciently outdated.
What isnt obvious is why Pittsburghers dont pester their board reps anymore. I know teachers used to call board reps when things went wonky and so did parents. Of course, many regarded this as "micromanagement"-- now we have no discipline, no accountability--NO management.
Solution #1--begin pestering your board member about the real issues.Ignore all the rISE and PULSE talk and consistently speak out for order in your schools. Demand at PSCC budget accountability- find out how much $$ goes for "reward programs"
The 08-09 web redesign project did have plenty of parent involvement. The staff involved including Mr. Todhunter listened intently to participants and responded. The meetings were kept on point.
When I said "likely a district idea" what I meant was that the district likes parents to be involved in areas that keep them busy.
To Sept 26 6:21-
Parents often try to take an active role in more important issues and are often shut down. As a parent when I am bribed to come to a meeting with dinner or prizes only to find that the only reason parents were invited was to fill 'parental involvement' quotas- it is disheartening. When I have offered help to a teacher with anything,gruntwork to tutoring, I have always had a good experience. But asking the principal is a sure way to spin your wheels needlessly.
How many central office people have kids at PPS? There is a residency requirement.
There is not a residency requirement for professionals thanks to a 2001 move by the state legislature to help Philly fill positions.
The question is a good one though. PPS is good education for kids who come ready to get an education and for others, teachers have to work doubly hard to convince them school is worth the work to do well. It is good training for teachers who are looking for a second career as a televangelist. Teachers, did I spell that right?
There is a residency requirement for central admin jobs. You have to live in the city even if you are a computer programmer. I know this for a fact. I have to live in the city.
Anon 7:59, you are indeed correct and I apologize for my inaccurate statement at 7:40. Teachers have no residency requirement due to Philly's once dire need to fill positions and the legislature writing the change to include Pgh.
A ray of hope-- the portal page is back so students can access needed information- thatnk you Pure Reform- I like to think our efforts are heard. Next step- update4d personnel information-especially at the department levels.
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