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The Pittsburgh school district would coerce kids into taking single-sex classes
Friday, May 27, 2011
By Sara Rose
"Build it and they will come." That is what one Pittsburgh school board member said at a recent meeting about the school district's plan to turn Westinghouse High School, one of the city's lowest performing, into two single-sex academies for grades 6 through 12.
But the students did not come.
Read more:
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11147/1149381-109-0.stm#ixzz1NaBz3PaS"
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From this op-ed piece:
"But the students did not come... The school board's solution? Create a "coed" school for grades 6 through 12 at Westinghouse but offer only single-sex classes, with the exception of arts electives, physical education and vocational classes."
- And in fact, at this week's legislative meeting Board member Sharene Shealey was still referring to "the single gender academies."
The Single-Gender Academies, as described in the editorial, was voted upon by the PPS Board of Directors and passed into action at the April Legislative Meeting. That is why "Sharene Shealey was still referring to (it)" at this May Legislative Meeting.
Attorney Rose states"
"The ACLU opposes sex-segregation in public education because it is unconstitutional, because it perpetuates antiquated gender stereotypes and because it deprives both girls and boys of the benefits of coeducation." . . .
"Records provided in response to requests made by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania under the Pennsylvania Right to Know law suggest that the Pittsburgh school district has bought into these stereotypes hook, line and sinker. "
WHY would PPS risk coercing students into a program that is "unconstitutional?"
What makes this worth pursuing when students are not registering voluntarily and when there is a risk of legal action against the District?
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11147/1149381-109-0.stm#ixzz1NaSpHrct
At the April legislative meeting, Dr. Lane said that there would be one school called "The Academy at Westinghouse." It is a co-ed school with single gender core classes, not single gender academies.
How does that change the single-sex classes, all core subjects included? What is different? Please enlighten.
Is the structure changing or is the name of the school changing?
Mainly the name of the school, it seems, and that Peabody-are students and grade 6-8 students are being added.
Was it not 6 to 12 from its inception? How is that a change?
All core classes and electives will be single-gender is the way it is officially stated. In other words, you cannot be educated or graduated at Westinghouse unless you take and pass in single-sex classes. Right?
That seems to be the hope, because students who want mixed gender will be sent to Milliones/ U Prep.
BUT, if too many students select Milliones, the district has the option of offering mixed gender core classes at Westinghouse. They just hope that won't be necessary.
The kids are talking about how a young women was found with some of the young men at school, cash deal. Single gender is not solving the problems.
Isn't changing the name, and supposedly focus, just another way to restart the AYP criteria?
YES, changing the school ostensibly in this way relieves the District of accountability for lack of achievement. Westinghouse is currently in Corrective Action II 2nd year. With the change of name/focus for the school, all accountability for very poor academic achievement is wiped away.
Although, Westinghouse did not make AYP for 7 of the last 8 years, it will take another seven more years of similarly poor achievement for them to be held accountable at the same level with no consequences.
Creating Single-Genders classes will permit the school to start anew. AYP will not count for this school because it is brand new school, same building, same curriculum, same students, but a brand new school!!!
From the op-ed:
"Why is the school district essentially forcing families to enroll their children in single-sex classes? It can't be because single-sex instruction improves student performance: An extensive review of single-sex versus coed schooling by the U.S. Department of Education in 2005 concluded that the results were "equivocal" -- in other words, there is no clear evidence that students are more likely to succeed in single-sex schools."
"No clear evidence" ??? We thought that PPS/Broad/Gates were committed to research-based, evidence-based models of school reform.
Given the content of the op-ed, the only reason for this "ostensible" change at Westinghouse is to escape accountability for its FAILURE to educate its students.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11147/1149381-109-0.stm#ixzz1Nb98c7QC
Speaking of educating the students at the Academy at Westinghouse...during the discussion on purchasing MACs for the students Ms. Colaizzi really seemed like she needed to be convinced that we could get PCs rather than the higher prices MACs and be sure we had enough for all kids. Mr. Campbell, the district technology chief, said something like---our technology magnets are more like technology museums. Money is tight, budgets are cut, still though, not the time or place to start doing things on the cheap.
Colaizzi was missing Campbell's point, that in the long run the purchase of MACs was the better deal.
Macs are more versatile, more state of the art, and run on two platforms, Microsoft and Apple. Maintenance is included in the price with Macs, not so with PCs. For all of the right reasons Campbell was advocating for Macs, but the only comparison that Colaizzi was seeing was the upfront purchase price. She wanted PCs at Westinghouse even though CAPA and Sci-Tech are using Macs. So much for equity.
4:58 - Do students not selecting Westinghouse have an opportunity to "select" Milliones? Or are they being sent there by default? What are their other choices?
Students east of Negley are assigned to Westinghouse, unless they affirmatively choose Milliones. The administration has said that they have 30 days from the beginning of the school year to opt for Milliones, but this time frame doesn't seem to be in writing anywhere.
Is the ACLU going to sue to stop this? I was most taken by the comment that a staement was not attributed to any study or data, that means someone is pulling info off the internet.
I was at the board meeting the night they discussed single gender schools, Mark Brentley asked the school solicitor if the district NEEDS PARENT PERMISSION to have their student go to the single gender school. The school solicitor said YES the district NEEDS TO HAVE THE PARENT PERMISSION. So parents need to know this. Is this public knowledge that parents NEED to give them permission?
I see a direct connection between mysterious IPads for executives and a sweet Apple MAC deal.
I can't find anything nefarious about purchasing state-of-the-art equipment for students who WE say we would like to enter the workforce or go on to higher education with all the advantages possible. Walk a college campus and see MACs in the hands of kids. The compatability problems no longer exist. And really, there is no leg to stand on when Sci-tech and CAPA are MAC.
There is no way, with the current budget climate, that PPS can provide students with all the advantages possible. All expenditures and alternatives will need to be carefully considered in order to make the most of the funds available.
Who will consider the expenditures and alternatives? Will it be the adults who benefit? Or will the taxpayers stand behind benefits for students?
The PRIORITY must be the students. They are the reason schools exit. There is no sustainable argument against MACs for ALL students, not just CAPA and Sci-Tech. Educationally, productively, financially long-term the choice must be the MACs.
Everything on a PC, Windows, etc. can be run on MAC which is capable of more complex, more creative, more sophisticated applications. After 10 years on a PC, I switched to MAC and was able to transfer Windows and all of my PC applications to the MAC making it possible to do both on one computer. Nothing was lost or wasted!
There is no proposal for Macs for ALL students- the district simply cannot afford it.
Would a fair alternative be that to make sure all schools have at least some of the dual computers and that all students have at least a year with access to those computers?
The proposal is for Westinghouse. That's a good start.
But, demands should be met as they occur to renew or revisit technology at any school.
Decisions in front of the Board, need to move the District forward for STUDENTS. Currently, the decisions move ONLY adults forward. Students are left always left despite, while being continually cited by Mr. Sumpter as the #1.
When one fills out the A+ Board Watch Form and calculates the totals, it becomes painfully clear that the students are at the BOTTOM of the agenda in terms of ACTIONS discussed or taken.
Why is it that administration advances in every respect and students continue to fall behind in every respect?
Macs come with ONE program that a windows computer would not run. PhotoBooth. That's it. If you want to talk about them being superior creatively, then why do they not even have anything even close to MS Paint. Granted, paint is not the best program but for creating graphics and such for school projects it is more than sufficient. Yes, all windows programs run on macs, but guess what? They also run on windows. The only real advantage to be found on a Mac (that still does not justify the excessive pricetag) is that they have few, if any, viruses but what with all the sites that PPS does not allow students to access, it is nearly impossible to obtain a virus from online.
Name one "complex" or "sophisticated" program that runs on Mac but not Windows. There are none. That is because windows is a much more open source system where people can produce downloads and plugins for free that do whatever you may need. Seriously, Macs are way too expensive and not anywhere near worth it for essentially the same machine.
-11th grade student in PPS
At the computer labs at Pitt, the ratios of PC to Mac are about 4 or 5 to 1. I'm guessing that at most major universities, there is a similar ratio.
I love my own Mac, but I know that I paid extra for the coolness factor. We don't need cool schools. I also know that when it dies, I'm buying a new computer -- unlike with my older PCs where I'm more inclined to swap in and out parts.
We need schools where students are doing more of the work. I'd much rather a lab of workhorse PCs in a school where they are teaching the kids a simple programming language or two. Far more valuable use of their academic time and brain space!
Did you hear the details on price comparisons over the long term? Do you disagree? Explain.
Today, it will be repeated on Channel 44 Verizon FIOS
at 3:00.
Do you know WHY the MAC was chosen for CAPA and Sci-Tech, the premier schools in PPS?
It could be to impress visitors and parents of prospective students- CAPA is the school that is showcased when visitors arrive.
It's great to have the perspective of a student, especially a student who is so well informed.
The computer issue is another example of the district handling in a piecemeal manner when it should be looking at PPS schools, technology and computers overall and devising an equitable and affordable plan.
The perception of superiority was created with sci-tech and CAPA on MAC and there was just an EFA tv show in a recent month with a segment on how much a class is doing with the MAC. Money is tight so now we appear to downgrade for the new academy. How about this...since the MACs hold their value so much better than a PC let's take the MACs from sci-tech and give them to the acadmey at westinghouse kids and let the sci-tech kids have new PCs.
The concept of "open source" was mentioned above. It made me giggle.
The real 'state of the art' IMNSHO, would be to go fully open source.
Get the kids to do LINUX, Gimp is the "photoshop" alternative.
I loved that the Westinghouse Alumni suggested a move to OpenOffice.Org.
Now we are talking!
Can someone summarize their price comparisons over the long term?
Also, did they cite their source for that information? The ipad thing makes me wonder whose data they are using.
Mark...
"I loved that the Westinghouse Alumni suggested a move to OpenOffice.Org. "
I am going to pretend you are serious. Defend the open access, lack of security, and potential lawsuits that would follow.
You really have no idea how sensitive keeping data safe for children is.
Sharene Shealey said about computers those babes (Westinghouse) haven't had anything. They have computers in the library and lab though, probably no worse than a lot of the other schools.
I am pretty sure the student:computer ratio at Westinghouse is 2:1 or better.
The units have been refreshed as often as anything else PC in the district.
Say what?
Go to http://OpenOffice.org
See that the open source tools has nothing to do with data protection and other fears.
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