City parents voice concerns over schools While their complaints ranged from lackluster academics at accelerated learning academies to poor discipline district-wide, about 40 parents who gathered in the Hill District last night had this much in common:A great group of parents interested in the overall health and quality of the Pittsburgh Public Schools held a meeting at the Hill House tonight. Wireless Neighborhood folks, including Mrs. T. Smith, help to organize the gathering that also included a handful of board members. Randall T, Mark B, Thomas S., and Skip Mc were there with the advocates, regulars and concerned.
They fear efforts to improve the Pittsburgh Public Schools aren't panning out, and they want their voices heard.
Expect to see coverage from Joe S. of the P-G.
The next meeting is slated for May 1, 2007. Save the date.
Sadly, more than 30 people were told in advance of the meeting that they would not be able to attend as only a smaller room was available. At the last minute, the big room was made available -- so more could have attended. I'm not sure how many where there, perhaps 60 to 75.
Discipline starts next year, so says Mr. Roosevelt. I'd still like to know why the wait?
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Parents should not need a unified voice to feel that voices are heard.
City parents voice concerns over schools
Friday, March 16, 2007
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
While their complaints ranged from lackluster academics at accelerated learning academies to poor discipline district-wide, about 40 parents who gathered in the Hill District last night had this much in common:
They fear efforts to improve the Pittsburgh Public Schools aren't panning out, and they want their voices heard.
The inaugural meeting of the unnamed parents group drew a racially balanced crowd from various neighborhoods. School board members Mark Brentley Sr., Floyd "Skip" McCrea, Thomas Sumpter and Randall Taylor attended, too.
Wireless Neighborhoods, a community group, said it convened the meeting because of parents' need to air concerns about Superintendent Mark Roosevelt's reorganization of schools and other improvement initiatives.
Stephen MacIsaac, the group's executive director, said some "stumbles" are inevitable as the district strives for improvement. "But we all want to be partners in it," he said.
A contingent of 10 parents from Colfax Accelerated Learning Academy in Squirrel Hill said the district had broken its promise to help boost the performance of each student at the new school.
They said Colfax provides a basic level of instruction to all students, doesn't give enough individualized attention and over-teaches math and reading at the expense of science and social studies. They said teachers have been poorly trained on programs introduced this school year, complained that students are tested too often and claimed that the school's extended day has made kids tired, not smarter.
Colfax was one of eight academies Mr. Roosevelt opened in August as the centerpiece of his improvement effort. While the academies have the key goal of helping lagging students, the district said they would move all students to higher levels of achievement.
The Colfax parents weren't the only ones to say that hasn't been the case. Kya Humphries of the North Side said she pulled her second-grader out of Northview Accelerated Learning Academy after letting the district "experiment" with her daughter for six "rotten" months.
"She didn't grow," Ms. Humphries said of her daughter's achievement level. Ms. Humphries described the school's environment as cold and the teachers as "stressed."
Some parents said they're leery about Mr. Roosevelt's plans to embark on other initiatives, including an overhaul of high schools and a new school for disruptive students, when the initial plans haven't paid dividends. They demanded closer contact with Mr. Roosevelt and his top aides.
Mr. Roosevelt has said that his initiatives should yield substantial academic improvement by 2009. Meanwhile, the school board has contracted with Rand Corp. to take an early look at the effectiveness of new programs.
The parents group will meet again next month. Organizers said a unified voice may help to get district officials' attention.
(Joe Smydo can be reached at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548. )
The parents concern over schools working is obvious. All parents want good atmosphere of study for their childern
fitness
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