PG reporters are quite capable of investigative reporting: see the articles looking into the ongoing salary of former Secretary of Education Tomalis:
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2014/08/12/Deleting-all-emails-violates-state-policy/stories/201408110142
Wouldn't it be great to see this level of investigation when there are questions about education locally (consultants, contracts, raises and bonuses, Schenley, Westinghouse, performance, etc).
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I'm still puzzled why we need 9 Assistant Superintendents. Surely the PG would want to investigate what they all do. My experience from the non-academic world is that when someone creates a bunch of new subordinate positions it is to have someone to blame for their own mistakes. If somehow one of those subordinates does something good the boss claims credit.
It is hard to believe that the press, the public etc ALL jump on the bad teacher bandwagon when there is a way more interesting story behind the management and consultants end of education. These people dont even attempt to cover their trail but just gather more money and titles. NINE assistants- really! And not "logical" like area superintendents -- but all with a vague division of "labor"
Since we may have just started a thread where we make comparisons of academic and non-academic world practices, can I say that for those of us who came up through the ranks in private business it is amazing that more value is not placed on promoting from within. Also, when money became tight it was often middle management positions that were eliminated.
11:39,
Old joke that I just made up:
Question: How many Assistant Superintendents does it take to run the PPS?
Answer: Nine. Three to run the district and six to think up ways to fire teachers.
Oh, wait a minute. That's not funny. It's tragic.
Many good points here, but let's get back to the original facts.
In the case of the PG in particular, Shribman coming on board somehow denoted an anti-uion, anti-teacher vibe that has endured for a few years now. To that end, whatever Lane concocts---including the stripping on seniority of veteran teachers where layoffs are concerned--does not get questioned.
School closings.
The financial dealings of the district
Teacher layoffs
The evaluation process from the teacher standpoint
Taxes
Sexual abuse allegations
The 50% grading policy and death of academic integrity
The undue influence of Pitt's IFL in formulation of a district-wide curriculum
The undue influence of the University of Pittsburgh in the PELA program
The out of control hiring of consultants
The ratio of administrators to teachers and why teaching jobs are being cut while administrative jobs are being saved
None of this has ever been looked into by the PG, nor any other journalistic entity in this city.
Writing editorials that say that it is bad to anger Gates people and to have them leave town (because it will make PPS look bad nationally) evokes visions of your school newspaper, but failure to look deeper into these and other deep issues about the failure of our schools teach our kids is emblematic of something else.
The PG...and for that matter, all other media sources, have abandoned their journalistic responsibilities. They're not bothering the comfortable, as William Kreider once maintained, they're in bed with them.
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