On another post Anonymous wrote:
"New Post
Can we begin to talk about how PPS spends our money?
There
was a discussion at agenda review about two high schools beginning to
give out student I.D. cards if the expenditure is approved at the next
legislative meeting. When my first kid started high school back in 2006
I brought this up at least yearly at PSCC meetings and each time I
heard that it was too costly to provide student I.D. cards. My argument
was basically the same as the thoughts presented by Dr. Holley with the
additional desire being to be able to get students discounts at
theaters and events. We have less money now but apparently it is a good
idea for a couple of our schools to issue cards?
Can it be true that additional deputy or assistant superintendents are being hired?
We have not even scratched the surface, have we?
Over at VIVA we have ideas flowing. Perhaps every idea should come with a suggestion for funding.
We
also need to hear from someone in athletics about facilities. Rumors
are slowly surfacing. If I had to use one word to describe why suburban
districts are more successful in running programs it would have to be
STABILITY. No scrambling for practice space. No scheduling conflicts."
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9 comments:
Money equals corruption.
Why is this so hard to understand?
Look at any office or institution that deals with money, and you will find corruption, from the local PTA or cheerleading coach to the federal government.
PPS is no different. It became corrupted when it giddily brought an individual like Roosevelt in to be a superintendent. He was the lesser of all three finalists, butt he board fell in love with his name and punch-drunk with all of the money the name could provide.
What we have seen since then is the dismantling of education. Gates money and numerous other grants have caused Lane to lose her focus as to wheat her charge is. It isn't finding more grants. It isn't safeguarding the jobs of administrators by weeding out teacher salaries. It's the kids.
Big money has provided us with a PR department with a continual obfuscation of truths, whether it is crime in our schools, the failings of our kids on standardized tests or the grotesque actions of adults in positions of authority. Obfuscate. Keep pumping out the good news. Keep talking about the Promise.
It has been an outrageously bad 8 years and the worst is yet to come next summer.
PPS under the leadership of Roosevelt and Lane has failed Pittsburgh students, and it has blamed Pittsburgh teachers even though it has ensured that a scripted curriculum that emanates from yet another cash cow, Pitt's IFL, is utilized.
It has cost the jobs of numerous dedicated, good teachers and has caused the needless shuttering of schools.
And the best part?
No one cares.
This is a nationwide designed failure. It began with No Child Left Behind. Look at any urban school distict in the country. Broad and Gates play a major part in each one.
This is not a coincidence, there is big bucks in education.
Absolutely, 5:25 and by this time it should be common knowledge to School Boards across the nation.
If you are running for school board, you need be knowledgeable. How do you get elected if you haven't proven or at least convinced the voters that you care about the children/students.
Board members are not getting the "big bucks" and should be wary of the Broad/Gates agendas, anything for "big bucks"consultants, multitudes of bright young people with next-to-none educational background, training or experience over-running central office in project manager and director positions. One-size-fits-all curricula, interim assessments ad nauseum, vendor workbooks, etc., etc.
with none of it addressing the teaching and learning of relevant skills that prepare kids for college and careers.
We know enough to remedy all of this, so why does it not happen?
The attack on education has been slow and methodical. Teachers have slowly been painted as "the problem" over a long period of time. They are viewed as union greedy part time, overpaid glorified babysitters. It is all BS but a lot of the public is buying it. The shift of money from public schools to charter, test writing companies and consulting companies is due to a manufactured crisis that the public and media has bought into. This isn't just Pittsburgh, and it is has bipartisan support. Read Atlas Shrugged when you can.
The less educated we are as a nation the less we will question.
With school starting very soon, why is the PPS web site still posting for a chemistry teacher and secondary counselor at Allderdice HS? Shouldn't they be in place by now?
What is going on with athletics and sharing facilities?
Don't forget about all the money they pay Weiss. And in addition to this, he outsources cases to other firms to fight claims. They run up billable hours/big bucks when they could have just settled initially and saved the district money in the long run.
Yes, there are cases (a fact) that they ran out to ten years and then lost in the end. Attorneys on BOTH sides made big bucks. Do you think there might be a method to their madness?
The power structures that have been in place in PPS are "white" and always have been. Does it make a difference? Think about it?
Think about who always loses out in Pittsburgh. Think about the achievement gap that is as much as 40 to 47 points in predominantly white schools. Think about all of the white consultants (Pedro Noguera, the exception) who are literally making a fortune in PPS with no results for Black students.
Think about it.
Think about the seven new consultants at University Prep. Again, all white. Think, think, think, and then ACT!
(It's the 50th Anniversary of the Washington March!)
(PS: This blogger is not an African American.)
Yes-- 6 new consultants at U Prep; only 2 hard working people to trouble shoot tech in the district. Effective use of money so that teachers can be effective?
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