Anonymous wrote:
" *NEW POST*
Where could a person find a complete list of administrative positions? I would like to see once and for all exactly how many people PPS employs that are not teachers or in a school. Who's working in curriculum development? How many assistant superintendents are there? Any office with "talent" in the title...who are they? What do these folks do? That would be a good list to see. "
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Good luck finding this info. Read the Board minutes and see how many times they "close" an administrative position, and reopen it under a different title. It's like a game. You will need to use the right-to-know law to get this list out of them. It's safe to say that there are far, far more employees OUT of the classrooms, than IN them.
What about having substitute Administrators like we do with
substitute teachers at this rate we would know who in school and not in school or just hire staff Part- Time !!! bottom line we have substitute administrators or
Part-Time ones
I completely agree with 4:11. It would be quite a task but one that is worth taking. Some one running for the board, or currently on the board, could use this information for the good of the students and teachers.
Remember the charts of old-- you actually KNEW who reported to whom- throughout the district-- it was- shockingly enough public knowledge-- because back then-- why not? Now we know why they are hiding it
Lots and lots and lots of Project Managers and lots and lots and lots of Directors, and lots and lots of Executive Directors, etc. in addition to the eight Assistant Superintendents. The numbers of people in Central Office and Greenway are beyond belief. Most of them have little, if any, experience in the jobs that they hold and they seem to move on to other jobs and other cities way to quickly and then are replaced by new people who know even less. Its no mystery why the district is failing at everything--except maybe CAPA and Sci-Tech.
The boards organizational chart is as elusive as the teachers seniority list as well as the eligibility list for new hires. We know it exists, we just never see it. Yet, many decisions are made based on these documents. Who gets furloughed. Who gets hired first. Who reports to who. Somehow, one of the few lines of order we knew about was the safety director reported to Spolar in cases that should involve police.
School districts will have to summit spending plans by May 15th. Perhaps 3:08 or someone can 'pitch' this story to Mary Niederberger of the PG and perhaps under the right-to-know law she can obtain the information that is being sought here.
Right to know law does not apply only to the press. Anybody who wants to know has the right. PPS is no exception. They even acknowledge that parents have the right to see who is teaching and what their qualifications are.
Here is the text of the right-To-Know letter posted on the PPS website, dated October 8, 2014
October 8, 2014
Dear Parent/Guardian:
In Pittsburgh and nationally, there is a great focus on improving the quality of teaching and ensuring
students have the skills they need to receive a postsecondary education. To advance these efforts in
Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Public Schools is entering the fifth year of implementation of our Empowering
Effective Teachers plan.
Because of our Empowering Effective Teachers work, we are now in a great place to better understand the
differences in teacher effectiveness. We are committed to supporting and growing our teachers to ensure all
of our students are on course to take full advantage of The Pittsburgh Promise® scholarship. We are using
the information we have gathered on teacher effectiveness to drive recruitment, professional growth,
evaluation, promotion, recognition, retention, and compensation. To learn more about our work visit:
www.pps.k12.pa.us/EET.
Important Information about Teacher & Paraprofessional Qualifications
Through the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), parents have the right to request information
about the qualifications of the teachers and paraprofessionals who instruct students. Under the NCLB
guidelines, parents may request the following information about their children’s teachers and
paraprofessionals:
1. Whether the teacher has been licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to
provide instruction for the grades and subjects taught.
2. Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional certification.
3. The college major and any other advanced degrees or certifications the teacher holds.
4. Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.
To request this information, please submit a written request to: Mr. Brian Glickman, Director of Talent
Management, Pittsburgh Public Schools, 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Please include
your child’s name, school and homeroom as well as a telephone number where you may be reached
between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. You may also place your request by contacting the Parent
Hotline at 412-529-HELP (4359).
At Pittsburgh Public Schools, our goal is to ensure that every student is Promise-Ready and able to receive a
scholarship from The Pittsburgh Promise®. We look forward to working together to create a culture of
excellence where every child is prepared to succeed in the classroom and in all aspects of life.
If you have questions about the information in this letter, please contact Mr. Glickman’s office at 412-529-3659.
I would think the same information should be available to anybody who asks for it. One should also be able to request the same information an central administration. An old fashioned organizational chart may or may not be available. They would probably have to hire a consultant to create such a document.
9:15 - a lot of the titles like project managers, chiefs, and different DIRECTORS are the result of these people NOT being certified by Education Universities or the Department of Education in PA. You have to have official CERTIFICATION to be a principal or assistant principal or superintendent or assistant superintendent or supervisor, etc. That problem is solved by giving people other titles!? Really?
So you are saying 8:57 that the eight assistant superintendents have official CERTIFICATION. The question becomes...what problems have they solved lately for PPS in their certified status?
Yes, no doubt, your point is well-taken 3:03. It seems that not even certification is a saving grace for those selected for leadership in PPS. Yet, it still SEEMS that some education under PA's requirements is better than none.
Most professions regardless of the field have basic, minimum requirements for positions,
In Pittsburgh's case we used to have educators that were more qualified, were home-grown, cared about the kids, knew the communities, and had some sense of the neighborhoods.
Now, even when and if school people have the right qualities and certification, they are over-run, commandeered, and/or put out in one way or another in favor of out-out-town, out-of-field, folks who work for Broad/Gates and other monied Foundations.
Surely, you are not defending the lack of certification, the lack of knowledge, or the lack of experience in schools as a better way to go--or are you?
More on the Right-To-Know law. This in yesterdays Post.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2015/03/19/Commonwealth-Court-grants-injunction-to-state-teachers-union/stories/201503190074
There was a day in the far past where the superintendent of schools home address was listed in the phone book. This stopped after Richard Wallace left.
I as a teacher, do not wish to have all my personal information out there, even though it is in some public records. If you want it, you have to dig a little. It should not be published in such a way that anybody can get it, for any reason. You can always contact me at school.
7:32 - There is no mystery as to what is needed .
Administrators and educators can all be well qualified, certified, home-grown, caring and committed about the kids and active in the communities/neighborhoods...but without LEADERSHIP all of that good stuff is left unbridled and mismanaged.
Broad/Gates and monied Foundations commandeer because PPS and the communities lack the leadership to chart their own course.
We hear what you are saying about leadership--loud and clear----however:
Does that mean that each and every school board members is without any capacity for leadership?
OR is it a case of leadership being over-ruled by the majority?
What would YOU suggest that leadership DO to combat the status quo!
Do we live in a majority rules city? Or can one leader overturn that majority--for the sake of ALL of our children?
Where are you, Anonymous 9:12? Why the "mystery" as to your identity!
Anonymity always courts the 'mystery' of Who? 10:36 but then again that is the nature of this blog and there doesn't seem to be a need to change.
However there does seem to be a need to change a failing PPS and the public perception thereof.
New leadership and making the case for change to the public are basic constructs for any reform and not necessarily in that order.
When voices are raised and dare to rail against the status quo then the debate begins and the conversation becomes impactful.
But of course 10:36 you have heard this loud and clear from previous posters.
Interestingly Education Task Force member Theresa Kail Smith recently spoke out against PPS in the PG about its lack of movement in the sale of Schaeffer Elementary. Lo and behold within a week all interested parties came together and the issue was resolved.
Raise those voices for all to hear...loud and clear.
Pps is taking over Clayton with a director in charge...no principal..hope someone other than me is questioning this. Board minutes had prior job listed as educational assistant, which is not a teacher. Nothing against her, but makes me go hummm...
PPS has used Educational assistants in the past. Usually, they are teachers who hold supervisory certificates or administrative papers. (principals) They were often assisting supervisors and moved up the chain when there was a retirement. Most Educational Assistants were listed as "Teacher on Special Assignment" They were paid at the lower teacher rate and accrued seniority in the retirement system and still represented by the PFT. Many of them were despised by classroom teachers.
The District is filled with unprepared, ill-informed and/or unqualified individuals in positions that require skilled personnel. One more will make little difference. The purpose of Clayton, remember, is to contain students that the other schools do not know how to "handle". If PPS put a highly effective school leader at Clayton parents will begin to wonder why the same students couldn't be ?handled" in the home school. All kids can be educated and "handled"when the right people are in the right place in the schools.
When PPS stops blaming the poor conditions in SCHOOLS on students, parents and community, they will RISE to the accomplishing the purpose of schools-to educate!
With new people running for school board-- wouldnt this be an obvious question-- or campaign promise-- "if I win I will demand an organizational chart for the tax payers or at least a rant that this is not available (hint- it is in other districts- you can follow a chain of command)
"All kids can be educated and handled when the right people are in the right place in the schools."
Sure. And all PPS kids can be varisity football players, if only the right football coaches were in place.
And all PPS kids can be great musicians, if only the right music teachers were in place.
PPS teachers must be a sad lot, except for the CAPA teachers. CAPA always scores well. Of course, CAPA immediately throws out any disruptive students. But that has nothing to do with it, I'm sure.
I'm a non-CAPA PPS teacher. I know what I'm doing, and I'm good at what I do. But the odds are against me. And I'm tired of being a scapegoat.
Students need a 3.0 to get into CAPA in the first place. And that pretty much rules out kids who don't behave in school.
CAPA requires a 3.0. Do they also require a portfolio or performance piece? 8:36 might feel like a scapegoat, but how is it the students entering CAPA were able to learn and perform. Parents were an important part but it was their teachers who got them there.
Problem is so many are not motivated or driven by success. Learning and earning are difficult while being a disruptive thug is easy. Hang in there 8:36.
Yes CAPA requires a portfolio, it was quite extensive and unless a student has a very involved parent it would be next to impossible to fulfill their requirements. This was a few years ago, so maybe it has improved.
My child got in, but we had to call the district a few times to clear things up. The instructions were very unclear. We also had 4 friends who are University professors read the instructions and they found them to be confusing also.
A dedicated family is also required to get your kid in CAPA.
8:36 is correct, and yes, teachers and parents did help students on their journey--but no student, parent, or teacher ever said-- wow that shill consultant for x company sure helped these kids! And yet, tax payers keep letting these people make blood money on our students. We need a return to teachers teaching, students learning not performing, and administrator s who have " walked the walk" and therefore can BE instructional leaders-- who lead by example, and a school board whose members ask-- can we. Do this with our own educators, not company people.
Is the purpose of Clayton to contain students that the other schools do not "handle"well_____or is it a beginning____ to find out how we can be most helpful to them individually?
In pushing the creation of Clayton, MR said it would do both- remove disruptive students so that other students could learn, and provide the help that the removed students need. It sounds good, but he simply ignored issues such as the fact that parents would need to consent to have students go to Clayton, and that the school would not take students on probation.
So, there are no "beginnings" for our students in regular high schools. They simply "give up" on students who are human beings like most other human beings, they respond to attitudes, situations, activities that are engaging, positive not punitive, that play to their strengths, talents, and allow them to see themselves as potentially successful adults.
Does it take an alternative school or special school where all of the students are outcasts that someone has determined need a "beginning" that is impossible in a regular school??? WOW---that labeling is the mo speaks volumes about the sending schools and the people in them!
10:34-- please imagine that you are at home trying to explain something to a family member that is important to you both- income tax, a medical situation, even a recipe. Now imagine that another person in the room decides not to care about your tax situation -- so she proceeds to make noise, act out, scream, call the person names to engage them in their drama. Is it such a far stretch to imagine that you can't put your situation on hold to deal with this person trauma and drama. Maybe you just need to separate long enough to accomplish something, and the distressed person needs to de- stress in another environment. Imagine that is every day of your life-- especially as the person who needs the information to move forward. Then you may be close to understanding why there is a need for some separation of disruptive students so that there is some order to school life. Sadly interesting, engaging exciting learning doesnt work for some students who are totally involved in their own issues. Schools are set up to teach in groups even small groups-- not to do individual therapy.
Much better to imagine creating situations that are positive, that engage all in the environment in ways that take on challenges that bring all individuals, young and older, into solution oriented, enriching, thriving, collaborative, teaching, learning, elevating, and productive places and spaces. Imagine inclusion, not exclusion. Imagine order not chaos. Imagine success, not failure. IMAGINE! Then commit.
Clever semantics but when 6:34 says "Imagine" he/she is describing a situation that he/she has actually experienced. 8:33 in contrast uses "Imagine" to describe an ideal situation without explaining how to get from reality to the ideal.
10:34, Add this into the picture. As you are at home discussing something important and another comes in and disrupts, add 30 more people who need the help. Out of those, two or three are easily distracted and cannot get back on task. And another one or two who take every disruption to go to the bathroom. (and go right now) All the while, even the "good" ones begin to talk a little. All the while, there is one student who can blow up violently any time, any place.
I know all this sounds a little far-fetched. It does not happen all the time, but it does. When you have an administration who looks at teachers who do write referrals as weak, or don't address problem students Removing the most disruptive can be a blessing. If that student is that bad, removing him will help many more than just one teacher.
In the face of these challenges it is not enough to tell the teacher "just make your space positive, enriching, elevating, and inclusive."
It is difficult to imagine one without the other, be it chaos without order or order without chaos. Like wise, success/failure, positive/negative . One exists because of the other.
Each have their value because of the other...so maybe both need to be embraced without leaving it up to the imagination.
Just sayin on this sunday morn of march madness .
If you want to imagine order as desks and fists fly... better have a Plan B.
If fists and desks are flying, its a situation that has progressed to that point. It doesn't happen in classrooms where students feel welcome, capable, engaged and contributing their strengths, their talents, their knowledge, their skills and all the while advancing and enhancing the same!
That is seriously blaming the teacher.
What if fists are flying at home between two siblings- is it always the parents' fault? Is it because parents have not made their children feel welcome or talented enough?
There should be no blame. Sometimes Mercury is in retrograde and the Moon is Full and all things seem upside-down. Life happens.
Teachers are the front lines and it is every teachers hope to bring to the classroom what is needed.
"Sometimes Mercury is in retrograde and the Moon is Full and all things seem upside-down. Life happens."
Too bad it happens so often that you need fill a Clayton and suspend dozens of kids everyday.
But then when we talk about "no blame", it never seems to include children. The children are always to "blame" for everything and are to only ones for whom there are consequences regardless of the positions of "Mercury" and the "Moon."
10:13, 12:51, 1:30, I have been in the classroom many, many years. I have seen students engaged in class activity without warning, erupt. Fists and desks do fly. They also roll and bounce. They land on innocent students and teachers. These eruptions take place in the halls, classroom, cafeteria...
Sometimes it is over another boy or girl. It can be over what happened last night in the neighborhood. I dread reading or hearing something that happened in Beltzhover or Knoxville over the weekend. Monday can be a madhouse. Tension builds and all of a sudden, it happens. In these cases, no amount of engagement, meaningful activity, class supervision, knowledge or welcome will help. Your plan B better be more effective than the one that failed.
Gof Bless us, God Bless us all.
If students are in Clayton it is because their parents agreed to move them there. Parents may have been experiencing some of the same issues teachers face. And students have come to public hearings grateful for the help they received. All of this almost certainly could have been done by regular PPS teachers rather than an outside company, but there are definitely students who benefited.
Mondays can be a madhouse 1:56. Maybe Mondays need to begin with students spending the first 10 min with eyes closed, silently "imagining" a better weekend.
Imagination in this instance can be quieting and transforming.
@2:30 eyes closed would be awesome, however, who has time to do that. If an admin walked in and saw that...their response would be ....no engagement, learning going on
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