On another post Anonymous wrote:
New post please:
Pittsburgh schools seek advisers for planning
December 17, 2012 12:09 am
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If Pittsburgh Public Schools keeps doing what it's doing, officials expect it will run out of money in 2015.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburgh-schools-seek-advisers-for-planning-666675/#ixzz2FJr1tg8U
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6 comments:
"Ms. Lane identified three areas as needing immediate attention: low-performing schools, student attendance and expansion of school choice."
- Aren't these key issues for the Broad Academy in general? As part of its training, why doesn't Broad just hire the consultants once and pass the knowledge on to the districts it works with (regular administrators should be able to tweak the information for their own districts) rather than having many districts hire the consultants over and over again?
In any event there is probably enough in depth knowledge and real interest and investment right here in the community to provide good advice- for free!
Questioner,
Your suggestion is a good one: "why doesn't Broad just hire the consultants once and pass the knowledge on to the districts it works with..."
But that won't work as far as the Pittsburgh schools are concerned. That's because PPS administration uses consultants for more than just information-gathering.
Pittsburgh uses consultants to misdirect the public's attention. Instead of talking directly about solving problems, administration talks about hiring consultants.
Pittsburgh also uses consultants as a delaying tactic. Can't fix the problems until all the consultant reports are in.
Pittsburgh also uses consultants to shift the blame. When a program fails, blame the consultants who suggested it. The million-dollar Kaplan fiasco is a good example of this.
So you see Questioner, Pittsburgh would not be very interested in your suggestion.
Such a shame. Dr. Lane simply put, is not capable of getting the job done. There shud be no moneys given to consultant until all our laid off staff is employed first. If there is a job to be done hire them back to do it. They have the skill and experience to figure it out. It dont matter if its grant money or our money. It don't feel right.
What are we paying lane and all her highly over paid staff for then. Let them go and hire back some staff that worked in the trenches. Ppl or hurting and frustrated.
Finally any outside consultant should be made to do there work with laid off PPS staff or a % of it or not at all. The union should be all on this, but for some reason they have abandon there people. What a shame. What have we come to?
Also if this is really a financial crisis is "branding of schools"? That was how we wasted $$ on PGH____ on everything. Tjese dpeople ar snake oil salesmen and the public is being duped big time.
I am worried about the lofty goal of making PPS a district of first choice. Can we be reasonable and admit that that could be 15-20 years down the road cause it sure can't be a short term goal.
Let me remind readers something that PPS and the PFT do not want you to remember:
300 teachers were fired last summer.
It's amazing how there is funny for some things and no money for others.
It's quirky that we needed to keep over 700 administrators who aren't in schools--and in many cases, their staffs---but needed to fire teachers.
Ms.Chute does a wonderful job as a mouthpiece for PPS. Absolutely no journalistic integrity whatsoever.
Lane, French, Lippert, Rudiak, Otuwa, May-Stein: All individuals who deserve pink slips for mismanagement. They have deserve public scorn for failing the students of Pittsburgh.
Consultants helped to run this district into the ground. We need more like we need more PELA's.
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