On another post Anonymous wrote:
"Pittsburgh's Promise/Gates
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2014/02/02/Let-s-keep-Pittsburgh-s-Promise/stories/201402020064
So
now we have a Mellon Exec schilling for Gates. The Pittsburgh Promise
is a wonderful thing-- unless it was meant as a whip to hold over
education. We dont go to Mellon bank with a broken leg--gee, we prefer a
medical professional.
I know everyone is entitled to their
opinion-- but more and more people are seeing the ugly underbelly of
this corporate take over of education. Hire our friends- call them
consultants-- give them big bucks to criticize professionals, and
forget that the scores and life in the schools has tanked since 2006.
Notice NO ONE has stood up and said-- wow the schools got better under
the corporate consultant rule--
people are NOT flocking to PPS--even for the Promise!
teachers, admin, students-- no body is saying its working!
please name one person who is satisfied with the situation who isnt a corporate shill for venture
philanthropy"
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7 comments:
Some should respond when he talks about"progress made in last few years". Like many, he does not have a clue what has happened in the last few years.
How can it be that people are so mis-informed regarding the DECLINE as opposed to "progress" in PPS/ Doesn't anyone check the facts? It is completely irresponsible for so-called leaders in Pittsburgh fail to ever check the evidence, the facts, the egregious nature of the decline for the majority of Pittsburgh Public School students!
So, even if the wealthy, successful, upper echelon executives do not send their children to PPS (with the possible exception of CAPA) the quality of education in city directly impacts the reputation of the city. Does Pittsburgh want to be another Duquesne, Wilkinsburg, Philadelphia or Detroit? As a matter of fact Duquesne and Wilkinsburg have a higher PA ranking (in public school academic achievement) than Pittsburgh! Yes, check the facts!
Exactly 5:57, what I want to know is when does Linda Lane's improvement plan kick in? Shame on you for what you had a hand in doing to this city Linda. I did check the facts and yes Duquesne and Wilkinsburg rank higher than PPS. A decade of students have been used a sacrificial lambs and nobody at Bellefield cares.
Anonymous said...
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2014/02/02/Let-s-keep-Pittsburgh-s-Promise/stories/201402020064
Commentary in today's Post-Gazette by Martin and Ann McGuinn. He is the vice-chair of the Pittsburgh Promise.
They state that The promise has provided over 4,700 children with scholarships. Where are the statistics that show how many of them succeeded in finishing these programs? Remember that it was Lane and Co. who lowered the passing scale to 50%. How does this help our students to work hard and prepare for college, etc.?
Once again we hear from someone advocating for the Gates' money (this time using The Promise) while blaming the teachers/PFT for lowering teacher expectations and "undermining the schools' ability to remediate teaching deficiencies." This isn't about supporting and improving teachers. It is a smokescreen to get rid of teachers at the top of the pay scale even if they are a great teacher.
I guess the McGuinns don't read the Board minutes each month and see how many teachers have retired, resigned, or taken leaves because of the many poor decisions, ever changing programs, etc. the school district's leadership (not the PFT) has imposed on the district. Many good teachers and staff have left PPS - not because they were deemed ineffective - but because they were tired of all the BS.
Are the McGuinns concerned that PPS wants higher teacher standards than the rest of the state's districts? Are they concerned that PPS' leadership is ineffective and that we keep having so many consultants onboard?
I always wonder when the people who sit on these boards make statements, where did their children go to high school? Was it a PPS or a private/parochial school?
February 2, 2014 at 9:41 AM
I hate to say I told yo so. The RISE debacle is yet another example of the Roosevelt/Lane playbook at work. We saw this when the charlatan in charge wanted the ability to furlough any teacher, regardless of seniority. Remember? Brian O'Neill has coffee with Jean French as she laments the poor teachers in PPS. The PG does myriad pieces on Lane and then write an editorial that takes the PFT to task. Lastly, Oliphant, from one of the foundations, writes an op ed piece to lambaste the PFT and veteran teachers.
Flash forward two years later. Again, a number of puff pieces on Lane and her work. An editorial that fries the new school board and another that takes the PFT to task for sticking to its guns. Numerous letters to the editor this time---one from a Pitt professor---to take some shots at the PFT. Lane writes her own op ed baloney and then the icing, two community activists talk about continuing the important work of RISE and how it will hurt the children if it is altered or eliminated.
This is journalism? This is a big city newspaper? Dear God, don't they think anyone is keeping track? I have never in my lifetime seen a more biased publication. Ever. Shribman, Chute and their brethren have absolutely NO journalistic integrity whatsoever. The PG has been a complete public relations tool for Lane's lies. No one has looked into the failure that has been Gates on a national level. In Florida. In Colorado. In industry.
How can this be the case.
The PG has not been alone in the effort to sway public opinion, of course. Andy Sheehan apparently forgot what it meant to be an investigative reporter and did not one but two reports with Lane that intimated that the teachers are the problem. The Trib published an op ed piece that torpedoed teachers.
THIS is the Lane playbook, a calculated method in which to sway opinion and go after the PFT...and Pittsburgh media is happy to oblige.
I have not seen anything like this in my lifetime....a concerted effort supported by local media. NO questions asked. No investigations whatsoever.
I have to wonder where I am living. What a sad era for Pittsburgh. When a liar can be given such a public forum....
Is there anything that would stop PPS from using the Gates system (with or without PFT approval) to "remediate teaching deficiencies," short of firing teachers? And isn't PPS already able to fire a teacher if necessary? PPS administration can model the expectations they have for teachers and "make it work" even if it takes extra effort.
5:41...last line should say lies, not "a liar."
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