On another post Anonymous wrote:
New post: new administrators hired
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pittsburgh-school-board-hires-administrators-689564/
Herring
Sr. is going to assume duties as the Westinghouse principal AS WELL AS
helping with high school transformation efforts in other schools. The
principal job will be open for a year. First of all, doesn't
Westinghouse need/deserve a full-time principal now? Why keep the
position open for a year? Is Herring Sr. the principal or isn't he? He
is being hired as an assistant superintendent - not as a principal.
Dara
Ware Allen has gone from the Board to being an assistant
superintendent. This just doesn't seem kosher. Throw in the fact that
Sylvia Wilson, a just retired PFT honcho, is going to be on the Board,
and we have an interesting mix. The Board, PFT, and Bellefield have all
been in bed together for quite a while in my opinion. We are seeing
the results of this.
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39 comments:
And according to the new Board minutes, Dara Ware Allen has 45 days to make application to the Pa. Dept. of Education for a letter of eligibility and present it to Lane. In other words, does this mean she isn't certified yet for this position? This sounds like what happened with Roosevelt when he arrived. Weren't there any good certified candidates available for this position? Sounds like more PPS politics to me.
WOW
On Me. Herring:
http://www.goerie.com/article/20120713/NEWS02/307129862/Erie-district-shuffles-principals&template=mobile
I must agree with Mr, Brentley--surely some community involvement would have at least red flagged words like "high number of employee grievances" and "student behavior issues"
Also what credentials do you need to be a "director"-- there are a few shaky appts in this month's minutes
So, there were 19 changes in Erie's School Principals; but, only one demotion from principal to assistant principal. Now, PPS has hired the demoted principal to take on Westinghouse High School. Does anyone know why?
And why would PPS hire someone who has never worked in schools as a teacher or administrator to replace Jeannine French?
But then Jeannine French was not an educator either. She was a psychologist. Pittsburgh needs to hire experience educators with depth of knowledge and expertise. Why is that not happening?
Putting a "student discipline officer" in the role of leading a school speaks volumes. It is the same solution that was put in place at University Preparatory at Milliones when PPS hired "Success Schools" a behavior management firm. Control, control, control instead of education, equity, engagement, relationships, relevance and rigor. These are the essentials to which African American students will respond in positive and productive ways. Control and discipline will never cut it, believe it or not!
Dr. Ware Allen was at Leadership Pittsburgh less than 10 months.
First question: What specifically are Dr. Ware Allen's PA certifications now, not in 45 days?
Second question: How many years, if any did she teach or administrate in an urban school?
Third question: What does know about successfully educating inner city African American children who are now so egregiously under-served in Pittsburgh and cite the evidence for any success during the time she served on the PPS Board?
Third question:
Another question- while on the board did she ever hint at an interest in a job in education when speaking with Dr. Lane.
Her biography from when she was a candidate for the Board states that she has a degree in education. What subject is that degree in? Did she ever teach k-12 anywhere?
Is Jeannine French still with PPS?
She was in her usual chair at Linda Lane's right hand for the Legislative Meeting on Wednesday night. She will probably be in PPS until the new school year begins in July and the she will go to her new position.
yep saw her the other day
What is her new position? Is it with PPS?
Superintendent. No.
Superintendent? Where? Is this public knowledge or a joke?
We parents do not always understand the organizational chart, if one exists. What will Ms. Ware-Allen be assistant superintendent of? Middle schools, high schools, etc?
Ware will head student support services. Here is a little bit of history regarding Ware. She was appointed (politics)by Mayor Ravenstahl to finish out Heather Arnet's term after Arnet resigned from the Board. When her term ended, she ran against Regina Holley and was defeated by a landslide.
When you look at Holley's credentials, she would actually make an excellent assistant superintendent of student support services. There are qualified people with credentials who have worked a long time in the PPS trenches who are overlooked for these positions. Just saying...
Quite frankly, Regina Holley would make THE perfect Superintendent for Pittsburgh Public School. AND, it is not to early to start that kind of an 'advocates' campaign.
We do this standing behind her suggestions for 'looking into' the issues she raises and pursuing answers, real answers, to the questions she asks. The longer she serves as a Board member, the more prepared she will be to take on the task.
Currently, she reaches beyond (her district), extends a hand, listens to communities and 'stands strong' on behalf of our underachieving (because they are under-served) students!
The Hill and Homewood have an advocate on the PPS Board of Directors!
To 8:39: Yes, in a small District (of all white students) that did not make AYP last year. However, the PA measures of Achievement at all grade levels in that district ranges in the 70 to 80 percentile ranks.
8:42 - The most important questions that need answers are:
1.) What are her areas of legitimate PA CERTIFICATION? (not a 45 day pass through)
2.) What EXPERIENCE with strong evidence of success in urban schools does she bring to the position?
I am very close to being a former PPS parent, ain't graduation grand? The post above mentioning serving in the PPS trenches reminded me that I have been lucky to have had kids in buildings where caring VPs served. For the most part these men and women were former classroom teachers who maybe served in an unofficial capacity when the principal was out of the bulding or who were in charge of maintaining building control and doling out discipline. Maybe some were teaching and had the principal recognize some characteristics that let him/her to a path in administration. We parents are tired of hearing terms like career ladder, which only apply when convenient. I think it is called talking out of both sides of your mouth or something. Credibility suffers.
My question is why did Hazuda get so hostile,bringing up Brashear etc. when questioned about Mr. Herring? Shouldn't there be discussion? Listening to the board minutes, again something is very wrong. If the candidates are good- praise themexplain etc. But don't snap at every question. This sounded like a coverup and for what? Are people lining up for the job of principal at Westinghouse?
And yes, dear parent, PRC is a cover so that they can move people in and out of jobs and buildings. Odd are yours wont be there next year
Please - enough of the suspense. Can someone answer the question posted by anonymous? Where is French supposed to be going to become superintendent? If this is true, that makes how many people (I can't count) in high level positions that have jumped ship by either retiring or resigning? I'd also like to know what happened to the woman the Board appointed a few months ago to the position (which has morphed again) that Dara will now assume. She is an African-American woman from outside the state. Her name is Tammy Campbell and she was to have a merged position that combined pieces of Poncelet's job and Ripper's job. Her title was to be Chief of accountability and student support services.
The Pgh Public Schools website has an organizational chart under "Who We Are" / "District Leadership" on the main page.
There is a .pdf file that shows the organizational chart as of 4/4/13
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/domain/18
A few responses to posts:
An organizational chart as of 4/4/13. By 4/5/13 it may have changed already the way PPS keeps changing titles and positions. They close positions - retitle them - and put someone new in there. This is a convenient way of getting rid of some people and bringing in who they want.
Yes, with French jumping ship, she becomes one of a long line who got out while the getting was good. What do they know that we don't know?
The public has been told that PPS is going broke. Yet, there are two new administrators hired - Herring at $115,910, and Ware at $123,026. Both are able to receive up to a $2,000 ANNUAL performance increment, and an ANNUAL achievement bonus of up to $15,000. No wonder we are going broke.
When Ware was at Leadership Pittsburgh, the President and CEO was (still is) Aradhna Oliphant the wife of Grant Oliphant, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Foundation. The Pittsburgh Foundation administers the Pittsburgh Promise, and is the fiscal agent for Gates' $40 million grant to PPS. The Pittsburgh Foundation even agreed with Lane about eliminating seniority regarding teacher layoffs.
I wonder if Ware got her new position through her contacts?
PPS seems so political. Remember that the Mayor put her on the school board and he is part of the Pittsburgh Promise also. They are all interconnected.
I watched the latest Board meeting online. There was much discussion from Brentley and Holley about the lack of community involvement in the Herring hiring process. However, there was absolutely no discussion about Ware. No one asked about her job description, her credentials, the hiring process, or the 45 day timeframe to get necessary paperwork from the State. You would think that one of the Board members would have questioned the 45 day business.
Lane was specifically asked what Herring's job is and she said principal. If this is so, why is he listed as an assistant to the superintendent for ... and not just as the principal of Westinghouse? This morning's P-G article about him even states that he is more than just the principal of Westinghouse.
Here are some general observations I made while watching the video. It appears that the Board members get their packets of what is being discussed/voted on at/just before the meeting. Brentley made a comment, "I just got this." Also, Lippert sits and texts the better part of the meeting. I guess she is bored. Last of all, the Board members obviously all don't get along with one another. There is still friction.
According to the PPS website, there are committees chaired by Board members. The personnel committee chair is Jean Fink, and the staff liaison is Jody Spolar. Would Herring's and Ware's pending appointments have been discussed here? Neither Fink nor Spolar spoke up at the latest Board meeting when the questions were being asked about Herring's hiring process. I'm guessing that Lane and company decided who to hire and it was a done deal. The Board really has no input into vital matters. Brentley even questioned Lane about his role. The Board is window dressing. At least we don't pay them a salary.
Best line of the article:
"Mr. Badams described academic achievement as "rather stagnant" during the three years Mr. Herring was principal."
What exactly is Ebony Pugh talking about? This is not a highly sought after candidate.
Re: the comment from Anonymous 8:26 AM, the reason there was no discussion about Ware's new role is that the district, for the past several years, does not seem to give ample consideration to Student Support Services and has repeatedly staffed administrative positions in that department with individuals who lack the experience and/or expertise to competently and intentionally move the department forward. Most districts utilize someone with a background/certification in Pupil Personnel Services. PPS has unfortunately not done this in quite some time.
If anyone finds the link to the KQV show Mark Brentley did interviewing Mr. Herring this past weekend can you share the link here?
The question that needs to be answered is, why did PPS invest so much money and time in the PELA program and yet not one of the PELA graduates is competent enough to take on the challenges of Westinghouse? Then again, it was a PELA and one of a line of administrators who were in charge of training the PELA's who were assigned to Westinghouse for the 2011-12 school year. When the two of them combined couldn't even get the school operating, Crenshaw was brought back to make the best of a disastrous situation for the students.
Now PPS hires an outsider at a cost of $119,000 a year to serve as a change agent. Mr. Herring's track record of stagnant achievement gains in his previous challenging assignment qualifies him not only to serve as the Westinghouse Principal but also as an Assistant to the Superintendent. You have got to be kidding! Either the Board Members asleep, not reading personnel information of applicants for leadership positions, or just in way over their heads so they just say, YES to all of the recommendations made by Central Office admins?
Reggie Bridges was such a vocal advocate for Westinghouse on this blog. Where has he gone? We haven't heard from him in months.
Both Herring and Ware are awaiting approval from Harrisburg. Does this mean they are NOT certified by PDE for these positions? Are the state requirements certification being waived in the same way that PA waived requirements for Mark Roosevelt? Politics, again? Oh my!
A significant number of Central Office administrators in Pittsburgh Public Schools do not have the experience or certification required by educators in PA for the positions that they hold. Yet, they supervise and hold accountable teachers who have earned the required certification have experience and expertise in education.
Are such waivers advancing education and achievement for Pittsburgh students or are they the reason for Pittsburgh being in Corrective Action II, 4th year and 494th out of 500 (lower ranking than Wilkinsburg and Duquesne). Source: http://paayp.emetric.net/StateReport
Yes, in the past leaders in PPS schools and at the district level were well-qualified, certified, and experienced, having risen through the ranks for successful results in educating our children in our schools. Such is no longer the case! How does this happen? Why is it permitted?
To 5:03 pm This is just another losing unproven business model theory they believe in. Bring in unqualified non-education professionals and give them two weeks training to do a job that requires many years on-hand /in-school educational experience. The Gates model does not think current teachers are pro's and our collective experiences have no value. If the teacher academy was running, many tenured experienced teachers would be on the chopping block. Citizens of Pgh, please help us. Rise up and demand we get our district back by eliminating all Gates/Broad reform before it is too late. Many states like NY/California and Texas have realized this and are pushing the deformers out
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