Council eyes nuisance properties - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Pittsburgh City Council this morning said it wants to resurrect a 2-year-old 'nuisance property' ordinance that hasn't been enforced since it was created.Let's NOT make laws (or in this case, ordinances) that are not enforced. Serious enforcement problems exist. But, the enforcement comes because of a hyper-active legislative body that can't come to grips with its own mission.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Council eyes nuisance properties. Eye em all they want. Head scratching next?
Blogger is back
Blogger has been out for a good portion of today. It seems to be back. Yesterday Picassa was not working. It too is back.
Supreme Court refuses to hear Nader's appeal of Pa. ruling
AP Wire | 01/08/2007 | Supreme Court refuses to hear Nader's appeal of Pa. ruling HARRISBURG, Pa. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a Pennsylvania court ruling that requires former independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader and his running mate to pay more than $80,000 for costs incurred by a group who challenged their nominating papers in the 2004 general election.
Arena 'Plan C' offers Penguins profits.
This is bad, and its outcome goes the wrong way in the end.
Once again part of what Bill Peduto says makes sense and is worthy of support. Then the other part of what he says is hated. A little bit of good and a ton of bad.
If this was football, Bill Peduto played the game like Ohio State played last night. Opening kickoff goes for a TD and the rest is ugly.
Or if it is one play, Bill Peduto takes the conversation, the ball, downfield on a sweep to the sidelines. His student body left or right advances more than 10 yards giving a first down -- if only he did a Franco and ducked out of bounds then and there. But no. Peduto doesn't allow himself to stop where he should (IMNSHO). Peduto keeps on his feet. He reverses field. He goes back the other way and ends up seeing daylight. He runs backwards for 30 yards. He runs in the opposite direction ending up with a net loss of three times what he could have gained. Ouch.
Cheering for Peduto feels a lot like cheering for Ohio State in last nights big BCS Championship Game. The opening kickoff is a great run and touch down. Excitement swells! Then comes the rest of the game and a total disappointment follows. Florida blew the doors off of Ohio State after the first play.
I'm glad to see Bill Peduto do something to address the Pens situation. He finally went onto the field.
Last week I asked City Council to call a combined post agenda and public hearing concerning the Penguins and Civic Arena situation. They didn't. They had little to loose. They should have gotten some discussion moving on this hot topic.
On the kick off, Bill takes the ball and scores big points with me by saying tht the Penguins should share in the profits of activities that go beyond the game day transactions. The Pens greed makes it so that they'll need to have a better upside in the dealings so as to have long-term mega profits. The luxery and corporate boxes, naming rights, concessions and broadcasting elements are just not enough. Poor, poor, Pens.
I like the idea that Bill Peduto is thinking out of the box. He understands that there are creative ways to put the Pens operations into the bedrock of Western Pennsylvania. This makes it so the team won't threaten moves again in the next 5, 10 or 20 years.
I like the move too so as to link Don Barden's offers to the Pens and a proposal to invest in the Hill District.
Then everything else just sucks.
The Pens should NOT build its new venue on the lower Hill District. But, the Pens could sell its existing land interests in the lower Hill District to Don Barden.
Barden's money can provide an exit plan for the past investments of The Pens so as to not tie up that property for entertainment.
The lower Hill District and the upper Hill District need some serious attention. We need to make sustainable development work with the fabric of the community. We can't wedge a new venue in there that doesn't fit to the scale and desires of what we really needs -- affordable housing, mixed use properties, density of development, home owners, small businesses. The whole Hill District should start to thrive again by getting back to the basics. From Oak Hill to the edge of the Civic Arena property, there is a lot of potential.
I predict that the population throughout the Hill District to Oakland could increase by 20-times in 10 years if the right leadership emerged.
Presently, there is a lot of vacant land there. That land should be taxed heavily. Then the fix ups to the properties should be without new taxes. As we shift back to a land value tax, the Hill District would boom., as would other places in the inner core of the city.
One of the keys to getting The Hill District to flourish again is develop without the mess and snarls of a new hockey venue. Putting in a new palace, right in your face, isn't going to offer the stability and investment understanding that people want as a close neighbor.
If a public owned, public financed hockey venue goes into the lower Hill District, as proposed by Plan C, then tens of thousands of other home owners won't show up as residents and small business owners in those nearby neighborhoods.
I feel that you could put a ton of public housing around a new hockey arena and force people to live there. But we've tried that. It failed. We took down the projects -- for good reason. Or, you could put the new arena somewhere else in Allegheny County and thousands of people will move back into the Hill District in an organic way.
Calm the Hill District with peace keeping and by supporting basic needs -- and then we'd see those neighborhoods flourish again. Sensible development would work. New investments from a slew of owners would welcome a new day for the torn corners of The Hill.
A new hockey venue isn't a way to calm that part of the city.
I do love the concept of having local and state officials working with the Penguins to partner in development efforts so as to share in the profits. That concept would be key to negotiations to keep the team from moving out of state.
But don't give away a great part of the city to The Penguins. The greatness of The Hill District won't re-emerge under the guidance and ownership of The Penguins.
Get the Penguins 300, 400, or 500 acres of land out by the airport. We have the land there. We have the highways. We want a new palace for the Penguins. It could fit next to a new, urban, Olympic Village where The Penguins could sell high rise condos for people of all ages.
Remember Washington's Landing? That whole development sprung up around a rowing center. But this Olympic Village, the Penguins Village, should be with high rise buildings, not golf course town houses. We have Neville wood already. This would be a short van ride to the golf courses and the botanical gardens at Settler's Cabin. But, this vision is for new urban living, mixed use, long-term investment, home owners, condo living, vertical office park, recreation, and day cares for both babies and seniors.
If the Pens had a big chunk of that in the negotiations and 5,000 of its fan base was within walking distance on game night -- we'd be onto something new for exansion that the world would value and celebrate.
Once again part of what Bill Peduto says makes sense and is worthy of support. Then the other part of what he says is hated. A little bit of good and a ton of bad.
If this was football, Bill Peduto played the game like Ohio State played last night. Opening kickoff goes for a TD and the rest is ugly.
Or if it is one play, Bill Peduto takes the conversation, the ball, downfield on a sweep to the sidelines. His student body left or right advances more than 10 yards giving a first down -- if only he did a Franco and ducked out of bounds then and there. But no. Peduto doesn't allow himself to stop where he should (IMNSHO). Peduto keeps on his feet. He reverses field. He goes back the other way and ends up seeing daylight. He runs backwards for 30 yards. He runs in the opposite direction ending up with a net loss of three times what he could have gained. Ouch.
Cheering for Peduto feels a lot like cheering for Ohio State in last nights big BCS Championship Game. The opening kickoff is a great run and touch down. Excitement swells! Then comes the rest of the game and a total disappointment follows. Florida blew the doors off of Ohio State after the first play.
I'm glad to see Bill Peduto do something to address the Pens situation. He finally went onto the field.
Last week I asked City Council to call a combined post agenda and public hearing concerning the Penguins and Civic Arena situation. They didn't. They had little to loose. They should have gotten some discussion moving on this hot topic.
On the kick off, Bill takes the ball and scores big points with me by saying tht the Penguins should share in the profits of activities that go beyond the game day transactions. The Pens greed makes it so that they'll need to have a better upside in the dealings so as to have long-term mega profits. The luxery and corporate boxes, naming rights, concessions and broadcasting elements are just not enough. Poor, poor, Pens.
I like the idea that Bill Peduto is thinking out of the box. He understands that there are creative ways to put the Pens operations into the bedrock of Western Pennsylvania. This makes it so the team won't threaten moves again in the next 5, 10 or 20 years.
I like the move too so as to link Don Barden's offers to the Pens and a proposal to invest in the Hill District.
Then everything else just sucks.
The Pens should NOT build its new venue on the lower Hill District. But, the Pens could sell its existing land interests in the lower Hill District to Don Barden.
Barden's money can provide an exit plan for the past investments of The Pens so as to not tie up that property for entertainment.
The lower Hill District and the upper Hill District need some serious attention. We need to make sustainable development work with the fabric of the community. We can't wedge a new venue in there that doesn't fit to the scale and desires of what we really needs -- affordable housing, mixed use properties, density of development, home owners, small businesses. The whole Hill District should start to thrive again by getting back to the basics. From Oak Hill to the edge of the Civic Arena property, there is a lot of potential.
I predict that the population throughout the Hill District to Oakland could increase by 20-times in 10 years if the right leadership emerged.
Presently, there is a lot of vacant land there. That land should be taxed heavily. Then the fix ups to the properties should be without new taxes. As we shift back to a land value tax, the Hill District would boom., as would other places in the inner core of the city.
One of the keys to getting The Hill District to flourish again is develop without the mess and snarls of a new hockey venue. Putting in a new palace, right in your face, isn't going to offer the stability and investment understanding that people want as a close neighbor.
If a public owned, public financed hockey venue goes into the lower Hill District, as proposed by Plan C, then tens of thousands of other home owners won't show up as residents and small business owners in those nearby neighborhoods.
I feel that you could put a ton of public housing around a new hockey arena and force people to live there. But we've tried that. It failed. We took down the projects -- for good reason. Or, you could put the new arena somewhere else in Allegheny County and thousands of people will move back into the Hill District in an organic way.
Calm the Hill District with peace keeping and by supporting basic needs -- and then we'd see those neighborhoods flourish again. Sensible development would work. New investments from a slew of owners would welcome a new day for the torn corners of The Hill.
A new hockey venue isn't a way to calm that part of the city.
I do love the concept of having local and state officials working with the Penguins to partner in development efforts so as to share in the profits. That concept would be key to negotiations to keep the team from moving out of state.
But don't give away a great part of the city to The Penguins. The greatness of The Hill District won't re-emerge under the guidance and ownership of The Penguins.
Get the Penguins 300, 400, or 500 acres of land out by the airport. We have the land there. We have the highways. We want a new palace for the Penguins. It could fit next to a new, urban, Olympic Village where The Penguins could sell high rise condos for people of all ages.
Remember Washington's Landing? That whole development sprung up around a rowing center. But this Olympic Village, the Penguins Village, should be with high rise buildings, not golf course town houses. We have Neville wood already. This would be a short van ride to the golf courses and the botanical gardens at Settler's Cabin. But, this vision is for new urban living, mixed use, long-term investment, home owners, condo living, vertical office park, recreation, and day cares for both babies and seniors.
If the Pens had a big chunk of that in the negotiations and 5,000 of its fan base was within walking distance on game night -- we'd be onto something new for exansion that the world would value and celebrate.
Arena 'Plan C' offers Penguins profits Peduto proposal would allow team to share in Mellon Arena site, Lower Hill development
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
State and local politicians should go beyond Plan B to offer the Penguins something other cities can't -- a share of the profits in the redevelopment of the Mellon Arena site, city Councilman Bill Peduto says.
City: Row house should have been sealed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Fix the problem, not the blame.
Some would blame ex-mayor Tom Murphy. He's been out of office for more than a year.
I'm fine at blaming Tom Murphy for plenty of our ills. But I can't pin all the blame on him for a fire that happened one week ago. But, it was started by a 12 year old kid who isn't on a water polo team, isn't able to play ball at the sports complex on the flat land next to the river at the bend in Hazlewood.
Hazelwood matters. The nonprofits are doing nothing with this asset. We can blame Murphy and Doug Shield for this lack of action.
Don't point many fingers Doug Shields. You've been working on Grant Street for how long?
Some would blame ex-mayor Tom Murphy. He's been out of office for more than a year.
I'm fine at blaming Tom Murphy for plenty of our ills. But I can't pin all the blame on him for a fire that happened one week ago. But, it was started by a 12 year old kid who isn't on a water polo team, isn't able to play ball at the sports complex on the flat land next to the river at the bend in Hazlewood.
City: Row house should have been sealed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review City Council President Doug Shields, whose district includes Hazelwood, said about 25 percent of the neighborhood's housing stock should be demolished.What we should have done is build new housing down Panther Hollow and have a graduate student housing there, next to the Peterson Event Center.
Hazelwood matters. The nonprofits are doing nothing with this asset. We can blame Murphy and Doug Shield for this lack of action.
Don't point many fingers Doug Shields. You've been working on Grant Street for how long?
Honz Man and Tunnel Call
I got to speak with Fred, the Honz Man, as a call in on his afternoon KDKA Radio show yesterday. I wasn't clicked off the air too quickly. This is worth a re-cap as there was a funny moment, just after our conversation ended.
I hate the tunnel (Honz likes it) and the same for the "fair tax." We never got to talking about the fair tax however. Plus, I don't like the re-do of Point State Park either -- and Fred agrees with me on that waste.
The tunnel is a bad idea because it has a poor return on investment. R.O.I.
Honz's point of 'where was I' in offering opposition to the tunnel years ago does not wash with me. I hated the tunnel for a long time and I spoke out against it on many instances over the years. Too many to count. http://Ratsburgh.blogspot.com.
We naysayers did score a victory when they decided to nix the change in the light rail stop for the back of the Convention Center.
Honz wonders what we gain if the tunnel under the river for expansion of light rail is stopped.
I point to the Wabash Tunnel as a real example that has direct connections. The Wabash Tunnel was built with federal money. The capital construction cost for the Wabsh Tunnel was significant and today it is fair to say that the tunnel, owned by PAT, was a poor investment. The R.O.I. for the Wabash Tunnel is very, very bad.
The project was missguided and the spending was a huge waste. Furthermore the operation of the tunnel is so expensive that PAT wants to jetison the tunnel. Only 400 autos use the silly tunnel each day. It isn't worth the upkeep. PAT wants to get rid of the tunnel or close it.
PAT built a downtown t-stop that is seldom used. PAT owns a HOV car tunnel that is seldom used. Light rail to the North Side Stadiums is sure to be a seldom used extension. It won't help our quality of life in the region. People can walk over or back. Each ride to the North Shore would cost about $40 -- for every passenger. That is a low side estimate. It could climb to $80 or $100 to cover the capital costs and on-going upkeep of that tunnel. It isn't worth it.
Honz Man didn't see the obvious links between the Wabash Tunnel, after it was built, and how it is still a weight around the necks of this year's operational budget. Some projects are a drain to keep, year in and year out, beyond the one-time capital cost. The $1-Million per year for the Wabash Tunnel upkeep could go a long way in keeping other bus routes alive in this pending service cuts.
Honz pressed and asked again, "what does it gain by killing the tunnel?"
I said "trust."
Fred said, "You make some good points. But, trust doesn't buy you anything." He must think trust and rightous acts are worthless. I think that they are valued for our times and for that of our kids in the years to come.
Click. Call ends.
Then comes the clincher! Going into the 4:00 news, right after Honz finished our conversation by implying trust among citizens, government and budgets is to be blown-off, KDKA's producer airs a news promo -- "NEWS YOU CAN TRUST, KDKA-Radio." My sons and I were were in the car heading to swim practice and we laughed and laughed.
I love a good turn-about when words and concepts spin. The big-mouth (Honz Man) makes a senseless claims ("Trust buys you nothing.") and then his own forces (KDKA-radio promo) goes directly counter to what he just said. There is VALUE in NEWS YOU CAN TRUST. Bang, bang. It was like Honz got hit in the face by a pie -- thrown at him by his own station.
Too bad I was driving and wasn't able to run a tape to capture those 15 seconds.
More background: PAT wanted to build a new stop behind the Convention Center. Citizen outrage and a pinched budget deleted from the plans of that new stop on the line, thankfully. An existing t-stop on downtown's light rail system is already near the Pennsylvanian and just 2 short blocks from the Convention Center. It is there now. It is only used once a day to keep the rails from getting rusty. PAT wanted to move the stop a half block! How dumb. Moreover, how expensive. Put up a walkway from where it is to where people need to flow to. Install signs. Run the trains where you've got the stops and move the people from point to point in a light, safe, flowing way. But don't move train stops underground for no real gains.
Moving the stop would have also taken the course of the tracks off of the right of way for the busway that flows to the east. That would have been a fatal killer. One day, and the sooner the better, the east bus way should be re-tooled as a light-rail line. Then there is a straight shot out of downtown, past the block behind the Convention Center, to the east. That's where the next logical expansion should occur.
They wanted to move the stop to the Convention Center to insure that the east would not get the expansion.
I think it is better to put a t-stop in areas that need a pick-up so as to make an investment where it is needed. You don't run the t-stop to the Convention Center because we've already made a huge investment there. You want to spread out the opportunities. You want to get the entire area buzzing.
The area around the Convention Center would pick up if you put the t-stop slightly away from the Convention Center. The area around the Convention Center would decline if you put the t-stop right at the Convention Center.
Same too for the North Side. I think it is wrong to put a t-stop at PNC Park and Heinz Field. Put the t-stop at CCAC, at Allegheny General Hospital, in the North Side Business District. Presently, one can get off at the t-stop in Gateway Center and walk over Clemente Bridge to PNC Park. That walking from stop to destination is great for pedestrian traffic. It is great for the hundred of other locations that can spring up from here to there. We want street merchants. We want sidewalk cafes. We want a flow of walkers with a wide choice of destinations.
I hate the tunnel (Honz likes it) and the same for the "fair tax." We never got to talking about the fair tax however. Plus, I don't like the re-do of Point State Park either -- and Fred agrees with me on that waste.
The tunnel is a bad idea because it has a poor return on investment. R.O.I.
Honz's point of 'where was I' in offering opposition to the tunnel years ago does not wash with me. I hated the tunnel for a long time and I spoke out against it on many instances over the years. Too many to count. http://Ratsburgh.blogspot.com.
We naysayers did score a victory when they decided to nix the change in the light rail stop for the back of the Convention Center.
Honz wonders what we gain if the tunnel under the river for expansion of light rail is stopped.
I point to the Wabash Tunnel as a real example that has direct connections. The Wabash Tunnel was built with federal money. The capital construction cost for the Wabsh Tunnel was significant and today it is fair to say that the tunnel, owned by PAT, was a poor investment. The R.O.I. for the Wabash Tunnel is very, very bad.
The project was missguided and the spending was a huge waste. Furthermore the operation of the tunnel is so expensive that PAT wants to jetison the tunnel. Only 400 autos use the silly tunnel each day. It isn't worth the upkeep. PAT wants to get rid of the tunnel or close it.
PAT built a downtown t-stop that is seldom used. PAT owns a HOV car tunnel that is seldom used. Light rail to the North Side Stadiums is sure to be a seldom used extension. It won't help our quality of life in the region. People can walk over or back. Each ride to the North Shore would cost about $40 -- for every passenger. That is a low side estimate. It could climb to $80 or $100 to cover the capital costs and on-going upkeep of that tunnel. It isn't worth it.
Honz Man didn't see the obvious links between the Wabash Tunnel, after it was built, and how it is still a weight around the necks of this year's operational budget. Some projects are a drain to keep, year in and year out, beyond the one-time capital cost. The $1-Million per year for the Wabash Tunnel upkeep could go a long way in keeping other bus routes alive in this pending service cuts.
Honz pressed and asked again, "what does it gain by killing the tunnel?"
I said "trust."
Fred said, "You make some good points. But, trust doesn't buy you anything." He must think trust and rightous acts are worthless. I think that they are valued for our times and for that of our kids in the years to come.
Click. Call ends.
Then comes the clincher! Going into the 4:00 news, right after Honz finished our conversation by implying trust among citizens, government and budgets is to be blown-off, KDKA's producer airs a news promo -- "NEWS YOU CAN TRUST, KDKA-Radio." My sons and I were were in the car heading to swim practice and we laughed and laughed.
I love a good turn-about when words and concepts spin. The big-mouth (Honz Man) makes a senseless claims ("Trust buys you nothing.") and then his own forces (KDKA-radio promo) goes directly counter to what he just said. There is VALUE in NEWS YOU CAN TRUST. Bang, bang. It was like Honz got hit in the face by a pie -- thrown at him by his own station.
Too bad I was driving and wasn't able to run a tape to capture those 15 seconds.
More background: PAT wanted to build a new stop behind the Convention Center. Citizen outrage and a pinched budget deleted from the plans of that new stop on the line, thankfully. An existing t-stop on downtown's light rail system is already near the Pennsylvanian and just 2 short blocks from the Convention Center. It is there now. It is only used once a day to keep the rails from getting rusty. PAT wanted to move the stop a half block! How dumb. Moreover, how expensive. Put up a walkway from where it is to where people need to flow to. Install signs. Run the trains where you've got the stops and move the people from point to point in a light, safe, flowing way. But don't move train stops underground for no real gains.
Moving the stop would have also taken the course of the tracks off of the right of way for the busway that flows to the east. That would have been a fatal killer. One day, and the sooner the better, the east bus way should be re-tooled as a light-rail line. Then there is a straight shot out of downtown, past the block behind the Convention Center, to the east. That's where the next logical expansion should occur.
They wanted to move the stop to the Convention Center to insure that the east would not get the expansion.
I think it is better to put a t-stop in areas that need a pick-up so as to make an investment where it is needed. You don't run the t-stop to the Convention Center because we've already made a huge investment there. You want to spread out the opportunities. You want to get the entire area buzzing.
The area around the Convention Center would pick up if you put the t-stop slightly away from the Convention Center. The area around the Convention Center would decline if you put the t-stop right at the Convention Center.
Same too for the North Side. I think it is wrong to put a t-stop at PNC Park and Heinz Field. Put the t-stop at CCAC, at Allegheny General Hospital, in the North Side Business District. Presently, one can get off at the t-stop in Gateway Center and walk over Clemente Bridge to PNC Park. That walking from stop to destination is great for pedestrian traffic. It is great for the hundred of other locations that can spring up from here to there. We want street merchants. We want sidewalk cafes. We want a flow of walkers with a wide choice of destinations.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Steel City Derby Demons, female roller derby debut
Running Mates!
Don’t miss the excitement of girl-on-girl roller derby action, as Pittsburgh joins over 100 other cities in this new version of an old favorite.
DON'T MISS THE STEEL CITY DERBY DEMONS EXHIBITION BOUT! Doors open at 5:30 and game starts at 6 pm on Saturday, January 27, 2007, at Bladerunners in Harmarville. The venue is less than 30 minutes from downtown off of Route 28.
Tickets cost $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Kids 10 and under get in FREE!
Purchase tickets at www.steelcityderbydemons.com/events.htm and click the “Buy Now” button.
1st Half: The Wrecking Dolls vs. The Hot Metal Hellions
2nd Half: The Bitch Doctors vs. The Slumber Party Slashers
More.
The fight for speaker - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
I posted to this blog, a day before the vote in the PA HOUSE, Neither Perzel nor DeWeese.
O'Brien has no credentials as a government reformer, just like Ravenstahl, our mayor. And O'Brien got to his present position, just like Ravenstahl, as a compromise candidate. O'Brien is Harrisburg's version of Luke Ravenstahl.
I don't want Dennis O'Brien leading the charge to reshape the way they conduct our government. The steps I seek are first, replace, -- then reform.
The fight for speaker - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review many reformers said the fact that neither Perzel nor his Democrat foe, Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, was able to win the speakership was a signal that internal House reform is on the way.Told ya.
Crazy as it sounds, they're right.
O'Brien has no credentials as a government reformer, just like Ravenstahl, our mayor. And O'Brien got to his present position, just like Ravenstahl, as a compromise candidate. O'Brien is Harrisburg's version of Luke Ravenstahl.
I don't want Dennis O'Brien leading the charge to reshape the way they conduct our government. The steps I seek are first, replace, -- then reform.
Dem leader wants to reduce size of Pa. legislature
Reform is getting more talk.
Dem leader wants to reduce size of Pa. legislature A Democratic senator from Berks County is joining the call for a smaller Legislature and for making two other changes he says will improve state government.
Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, the Senate's No. 2 ranking Democrat, wants to reduce the Senate to 40 members (from the current 50) and reduce the House to 121 members (from the current 203).
The reductions are similar to those proposed last year by Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon. They didn't go anywhere but calls for reform have increased in the wake of the repealed 2005 pay raise and defeats of three dozen incumbent legislators last year.
Reducing the size of the Legislature would need a constitutional amendment which could take two years or more.
Mr. O'Pake also wants a nonpartisan panel to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries after the 2010 census.
He also wants residents to be able to put political 'robo-calls'' on their list of Do Not Call numbers, an idea suggested last fall by Rep. Michael McGeehan, D-Philadelphia.
Security bug found in PDF reader
BBC NEWS | Technology | Security bug found in PDF reader Upgrading to version 8 of the Adobe Reader software removes the risk of falling victim to the flaw.
Folic acid may slow age-related hearing loss�|�Health�|�Reuters.com
Folic acid may slow age-related hearing loss�|�Health�|�Reuters.com: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Folic acid supplementation appears to slow the decline in hearing that commonly occurs with age, at least in people with high levels of the amino acid homocysteine, according to a study conducted in the Netherlands.Perhaps one could sell this stuff to those who have played in rock and roll bands, drive motorcycles, work on road crews and at the airport, and are pregnant.
Pennsylvania Leadership Conference
Pennsylvania Leadership Conference Newt Gingrich to speak April 21st
Count me OUT. Newt's statements against freedom in recent months have been a great turn off, not that I was turned on to him before.
Petition text for ballot question called, "Pittsburgh Mirrors Population"
Here is the text of the petition now hitting the streets seeking to put a ballot question before the voters in May 2007. This is FYI and a starting point for discussions, perhaps. My position on the ballot question is pending.
All petitions must be filed by 5 pm on February 13, 2007.
The introduction letter says that the Republican Committee of Pittsburgh (PGHGOP.org) will be conducting the petition drive. "No petitions will be controlled by any other entity, besides our committee. There is no way that these petitions will not be filed if we get enough signatures..."
In the summer, petitions were gathered by the firefighters and the GOPers. But they were NOT put into the election department. The papers might have been used as a bargain point and leverage for some other matter and just left to gather dust. Or, there might not have been enough signatures. Who knows?
"Any registered voter in the city can sign and/or circulate our petition.
"This City is in trouble. We need to make this change within City Government. The iron is hot NOW. This is when we have to act. People all across this City want this. Lets get out there and show Grant Street that they have lost their power."
Pittsburgh Mirrors Population Question
Shall Article 3 Section 302 of the Home Rule Charter of the City of Pittsburgh be amended to read as follows:
302. COMPOSITION
Council shall consist of seven Members, two of whom shall be elected at-large, and five of whom shall be elected by district.
Each of the five districts shall be represented by one Member that shall reside in that district.
Any political party or body shall be entitled to nominate one candidate for the office of At-Large City Council Member. In the Municipal Election, each voter may vote for no more than one candidate for the office of At-Large City Council Member, and the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be electe as the At-Large City Council Members.
All petitions must be filed by 5 pm on February 13, 2007.
The introduction letter says that the Republican Committee of Pittsburgh (PGHGOP.org) will be conducting the petition drive. "No petitions will be controlled by any other entity, besides our committee. There is no way that these petitions will not be filed if we get enough signatures..."
In the summer, petitions were gathered by the firefighters and the GOPers. But they were NOT put into the election department. The papers might have been used as a bargain point and leverage for some other matter and just left to gather dust. Or, there might not have been enough signatures. Who knows?
"Any registered voter in the city can sign and/or circulate our petition.
"This City is in trouble. We need to make this change within City Government. The iron is hot NOW. This is when we have to act. People all across this City want this. Lets get out there and show Grant Street that they have lost their power."
Bikes work in Chicago too
Illinois has many miles of bikeways. Here is a bad photo of a pedestrian / bikers bridge built along the side of a roadway. The HOT MEDAL Bridge needs to be completed. The West End Pedestrian Bridge needs to be completed. Roads need some treatments so cars and bikes can co-exist.
Bike road along greenway stretch from suburban reaches to the lakeshore to the city.
Ideas from the bit bucket called Chicago, Illinois. Mayor Luke visits my former home town.
Worry alert: Luke might come back from Chicago with a new bag of tricks for Pittsburgh. This could be scary.
Perhaps he'll want to dedicate a "Pirate Ship" for a slip at the Allegheny River.
Perhaps he'll want to install Pedestrian Statues to fill Market Square.
Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. Is Point State Park getting one next?More to the point of speculation. Perhaps Luke is there to hold a secret meeting with possible head coaches for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Singletary has Chicago roots.
Prayer station in Chicago park.
River shuttles between Sandcastle, Station Square, Point Park, Mon Wharf, Convention Center, Science Center, Slots Parlor, New Arena at Neville Island.
Multi-use buildings
Lived, worked and parked in this building on Davis Street in Evanston. Four stories of apartments. First level retail and dining. Basement is multiple floors of parking for residents. Private ownership. Density. Ongoing fix-ups. Evanston's percent of property held by nonprofits is five times greater than Pittsburgh's.
Front side of the apartments. U shaped courtyard. Notice the high rise buildings in the background. Lots of density is necessary for the urban lifestyle to flourish.
Construction. The buildings are pre-sold.
Whole Foods in Downtown Evanston
This is a "Whole Foods" in Evanston. Notice the high rise building attached to the retail space. Build with density. Build with two or MORE uses per building. Downtown needs a grocery store. A grocery can co-exist in a high rise apartment building.
Parking lot to the parking garage at whole foods. You don't need a massive surface parking lot to make a grocery store. The South Side Giant Eagle is a better place for a high rise apartment building, internal parking spaces and a grocery -- rather than downtown.
Mayor Ravenstahl Checks Out Chicago - News
Mayor Ravenstahl Checks Out Chicago - NewsWonderful. I get to post some of my Chicago experiences and images. Stay tuned.
Pittsburgh Splits With West Virginia in the swim pool. New Polish student sets record in breast
Fast foreign recruit makes a splash in Pitt's pool. CollegeSwimming.com::Pittsburgh Splits With West Virginia With the meet tied at 94 points and swimming in his first-competition meet of the season, Plutecki (Zielan Gora, Poland/High School #VII) recorded a pool and school record in the 200 breast with a time of 1:58.98. Plutecki's time eclipsed the four-year 1:59.42 record held by Randy Gertenbach.
Plutecki's time was also a NCAA B cut time and missed the NCAA A cut time by just a second.
Plutecki's time was also a NCAA B cut time and missed the NCAA A cut time by just a second.
Mark Roosevelt of Pittsburgh Public Schools and High School Reform: long rant on news article. Wrong way, wrong talk.
Let's sort through another pile of B.S. about our schools from the light of the Post Gazette. It becomes another great example of exactly how we should NOT operate in this city.
From the get-go, the high school task force efforts are suspect.
Mark Roosevelt dispatched a tiny, select (elitist) group of administrators and boosters. The process was designed to shut out throngs of others as volunteers. Citizens and parents were shut out of the process. This public school district acted as if it was a foundation board operation. Homework wasn't done with any peer review.
The success stories from around the country always point to one main theme. No matter what -- communities with high performing schools have high performing students and tons of parent engagement. It takes a village. Everyone gets involved in every capacity in many dimensions. Then the students, staff, teachers, administrators and board performs.
If you want to sustain the failures -- lock out the parents in talks of reform. Mark Roosevelt fumbled as did this high school reform weenie group.
There is nothing more critical than parent engagement. Nothing.
Furthermore, that's the one element that is the weakest in our public school landscape.
We do have poor test scores. Pittsburgh does have high dropout rates. Dropouts and failed tests take a back-seat to how the school district slams the door in the face of its parents, customers, neighbors, ministers, coaches, advocates, voters, citizens, business owners, unions, employees.
Let's check out success stories of schools around the country, and the world. Let's look at how parents and families can soar in their educational lives -- by working together.
The Pittsburgh Public School district is academically troubled. It isn't financially troubled. But its biggest sticking point is its trouble when dealing well with its populations and especially parents.
There is a brain-packed trend to mull upon. Let's take our big, mostly empty, poor performing schools and say we're going to make them into smaller schools and call this a success. Our schools are shrinking because the people who can depart. The grass is greener in other school districts for many people, so they leave. They vote with their feet. They get feed up with the helpless feelings and blocks put up from the school landscape.
So, the pathway to victory is to have smaller schools! What????
We've got smaller schools!
Don't shoot for the size of the school. That was the same line of poor logic that was pushed down upon the citizens in the rightsizing plans of last year with the K-8 reform.
Parents don't give a rat's ass about the size of the school. Nor do voters and taxpayers.
We want schools where people learn great lessons! We want educational institutions that teach our kids how to become productive citizens in today's marketplace.
We want the school district to bring value to our communities. That means a district with a mandate to educate students ages K to 12th grade should focus on K-12 education and do a good job there. That means that the Pittsburgh Promise is out of bounds and not a high priority, when a majority of our kids can't pass 9th grade algebra.
Algebra is A + B = C. Pittsburgh Promise is Z. It doesn't matter. Smaller Schools is Y. Y and Z don't matter.
What is this 'capping of school size' trend? Elitist! Why cap and make haves and have nots?
I don't want caps. I don't want glass ceilings. I don't want to keep kids down. I don't want to prohibit excellence.
I want gangplanks to greatness. I want a rush to results. I want satisfaction to skyrocket.
He wants speed limits. I want hyperdrive.
Mr. Roosevelt wants to propose "breaking schools." News flash: The schools are already broken. How about if we "heal schools." The thing to do is "heal students." Fix the educational landscape of families in this region.
Let's think about "semi-autonomous 'learning communities'" for a few moments. I think that the best semi-autonomous learning community is a family. Furthermore, a thriving learning community isn't semi-autonomous. It is engagement and embrace of all assets and resources. To be semi-autonomous means you have to exclude and build walls.
Think of the internet. I want it everywhere. IP everwhere. I want learning everywhere. I want all resources at the ready and at our disposal when it comes to real learning enviroments.
The learning community here -- is called ... earth, if not universe. Pittsburgh Public Schools needs to play a dynamic role within our global marketplace of thinking, ideas and lessons. I think a call to 'semi-autonomous learning community' is really not about being in a modern urban community. The "semi" part must be the code word for thinking with only half your brain.
Enrollment at small high schools often is capped at 300 to 500 students.
We had a small high school -- South Vo Tech. It was closed. They called it too expensive. It was too expensive because it was too small. We turned our backs on those students in recent times and now we're saying what they had was just what we want. Unreal double-talk from a clueless district.
This is all wrong.
You need to put the right number of kids into the right sized buildings. Furthermore, the buildings are already built. The buildings are there. So, the factors are numbers of students.
In very recent times the bone headed school leadership has been saying that this school should have 500 students -- but the building is only able to contain 400 or 350. So, there are a number of building expansion plans to make these buildings fit the number that some rightsizing plan wrongly requires.
The concept that Pitsburgh's old school leadership needs to consider in every discussion is capacity. If a school or even a bus functions with X amount of bodies -- then that's where we start.
Schools that are filled to capacity should not be closed.
For PAT, bus routes that are filled to capacity should continue to operate.
Meanwhile, Pgh Public School District spent a lot of money to rehab the once great Westinghouse High School. The building is majestic. It is modern and bright and jewel for any student, staff, teacher and community group. But in the real world of today's educational landscape, Westinghouse High School functions at a fraction of its ideal capacity -- based upon its building size.
Let's cap these learning communities based upon the existing building capacity. This is a functional measurement that goes into the forumula right from the beginning.
You don't try to cram 10-tons of students into an 8-ton container.
We've got schools that have been rightsized and they are jammed.
An honest approach to space would be welcomed. The A+ Schools report should contain a much better inventory of the phsysical assets, for school buildings, open and closed.
As South Vo Tech shrunk in its number of students, the thrid floor was closed. Students didn't attend classes in those classrooms. Easy adjustments need to be a priority.
The luckiest districts have financed restructuring with millions of dollars committed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
I'm not looking to live in a lucky district. I don't want to live in a 'lucky town.' I want to live in a place where we value and teach how to be self reliant. I want our schools to be valued for doing an excellent job in teaching our kids -- and luck has little to do with that mission. It is hard work dealing with everyone. It is hard work to put all the facts on the table and really get to understand a topic area -- and not have a blind spot. I want to say that Pgh Public Schools can thumb its nose to soft money of the Gates Foundation. That money can go to hopeless places -- like Philly -- where they have two stand alone slots parlors and are really lucky.
Listen to this double talk. First, "The traditional American high school is really an anachronism.
Second, we are told this task force ran around the nation looking at schools throughout the country.
Don't paint with a broad brush. Some schools work. Some don't. And more to the point. Some schools are going to work for some kids while they fail other students. I'm a Libertarian swim coach so I understand the theme, "Different strokes for different folks."
The failure that makes the continual theme of hopelessness stems from the lack of choice.
Of course the trickle-up campaign didn't work. That's more smoke and double-talk.
I've been a stay-at-home dad who has objected to advanced pre-school efforts in the educational community. Head start is nice for some. But, head-start programs should NOT be mandatory. Head start programs might make great head-start programs, but they are NOT the key for making great elementary schools. We could use some head start efforts in the community. But, I don't want to see the school district spend a lot of effort in that domain. A K-12 district needs to cooperate with head start educators and parents. But, a K-12 district, needs to focus on K-12 students.
Mr. Roosevelt has called high school improvement the year's top priority -- and I think his stance is nothing but a joke. If Roosevelt wanted to tackle high school education he'd be doing a dance with the public. He hides behind a task force of hand-picked cronies.
There are many things that can be done to improve our high schools, and I'll cover them in depth. They have not been done for years. The ideas I want to advance are cheap. They'd make a huge improvement. They would have happened already if Mr. Roosevelt and the board really cared. I think these folks are motivated by CYA tactics. They want to talk the talk, yet cover they're backsides. Few are really interested in making system wide changes and making those changes stick in the greater community.
Voting with one's feet looks like this:
Here is another task that a real task force might do. Examine the data collection and data reporting to the public. Examine the formulas for operations in Pgh Public Schools and beyond. Make accountability evident in both school performance and finances. I want to know teacher, building, classroom, grade and subject perfomances -- in real time. This would be a fine task for a task force. Then we'd have transparent models and knowledge for making better choices.
This next statement give a serious worry for two reasons. First, evolution occurs in many tiny steps. Organic changes are healthy. Give us piecemeal. Don't give radical shifts that ignore the results of the past. The results of the students at the schools that were re-tooled were thrown out the window and not even published in the A+ Schools report. They want to churn and not keep a record of where we've been.
There are pockets of excellence within the PPS, but they have never been noticed nor rewarded. Often, they are discounted. Furthermore, the pockets of excellence within the elementary schools, the magnet schools where foreign languages are taught from K and up, has been discounted. The right-sizing plans didn't center upon the pockets of excellence.
The gifted education plan is a pocket of excellence and it is under a cloud of cuts too.
Another worry: Let's not design a school improvement plan and lean upon marketing savvy. Put lipstick on a pig and claim victory.
Other than CAPA, a theme-based school, the next best theme was Vo Tech. And, South Vo Tech closed. If you liked theme-based schools, Janis Ripper, where you fighting for the continual operation of South??? I did.
There is an educational trend -- new is better. New is better when asking to spend more money. New is better when you don't know where you are going. New is better when you didn't do a good job with the not-so-new.
The dual enrollment part is nice as it comes closer to what I'd like to see. Rather than dual enrollment, give enrollment freedom. Get rid of the confinements of high school choice. Allow any kid in the city to go to any school. It can't be quite that simple, but it should be.
No matter their neighborhoods, Mr. Vallas said, Philadelphia students have a choice of at least three high schools. BINGO. But our choice in Pittsburgh can be for eight or ten schools.
North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District offers signing bonuses of as much as $15,000 to build elite teacher corps at four low-performing high schools. ... Humm... Did you hear swim coach David Marsh is going to MAC and starting a program of excellence. His job brings a $1-million pay check. Interesting. Now we're talking "sizable."
Thanks for the article Joe.
Summary: A year long effort to reform our high schools is a wonderful idea. Too bad the process and efforts so far just compound the problems. I want to get to the roots of the problems, as do plenty of others. This article proves, again, to me, that Roosevelt's leadership is without a firm grasp of the keys to our situations.
Furthermore, I've got different ideas. Others have solid ideas as well.
City plan for high schools may mean big change City plan for high schools may mean big changeThe task force was a closed door process. The task force didn't keep minutes. The task force didn't hold open meetings. The task force was full of hand-picked "yes" people. The task force for right-sizing for K-8 from a year ago had NO people from the ranks of the teachers. Meanwhile this task force is way to heavy from the ranks of the teachers and administrators. The task force is built to curb dissent.
Study will be unveiled this week
From the get-go, the high school task force efforts are suspect.
Mark Roosevelt dispatched a tiny, select (elitist) group of administrators and boosters. The process was designed to shut out throngs of others as volunteers. Citizens and parents were shut out of the process. This public school district acted as if it was a foundation board operation. Homework wasn't done with any peer review.
The success stories from around the country always point to one main theme. No matter what -- communities with high performing schools have high performing students and tons of parent engagement. It takes a village. Everyone gets involved in every capacity in many dimensions. Then the students, staff, teachers, administrators and board performs.
If you want to sustain the failures -- lock out the parents in talks of reform. Mark Roosevelt fumbled as did this high school reform weenie group.
There is nothing more critical than parent engagement. Nothing.
Furthermore, that's the one element that is the weakest in our public school landscape.
We do have poor test scores. Pittsburgh does have high dropout rates. Dropouts and failed tests take a back-seat to how the school district slams the door in the face of its parents, customers, neighbors, ministers, coaches, advocates, voters, citizens, business owners, unions, employees.
Let's check out success stories of schools around the country, and the world. Let's look at how parents and families can soar in their educational lives -- by working together.
The Pittsburgh Public School district is academically troubled. It isn't financially troubled. But its biggest sticking point is its trouble when dealing well with its populations and especially parents.
There is a brain-packed trend to mull upon. Let's take our big, mostly empty, poor performing schools and say we're going to make them into smaller schools and call this a success. Our schools are shrinking because the people who can depart. The grass is greener in other school districts for many people, so they leave. They vote with their feet. They get feed up with the helpless feelings and blocks put up from the school landscape.
So, the pathway to victory is to have smaller schools! What????
We've got smaller schools!
Don't shoot for the size of the school. That was the same line of poor logic that was pushed down upon the citizens in the rightsizing plans of last year with the K-8 reform.
Parents don't give a rat's ass about the size of the school. Nor do voters and taxpayers.
We want schools where people learn great lessons! We want educational institutions that teach our kids how to become productive citizens in today's marketplace.
We want the school district to bring value to our communities. That means a district with a mandate to educate students ages K to 12th grade should focus on K-12 education and do a good job there. That means that the Pittsburgh Promise is out of bounds and not a high priority, when a majority of our kids can't pass 9th grade algebra.
Algebra is A + B = C. Pittsburgh Promise is Z. It doesn't matter. Smaller Schools is Y. Y and Z don't matter.
What is this 'capping of school size' trend? Elitist! Why cap and make haves and have nots?
I don't want caps. I don't want glass ceilings. I don't want to keep kids down. I don't want to prohibit excellence.
I want gangplanks to greatness. I want a rush to results. I want satisfaction to skyrocket.
He wants speed limits. I want hyperdrive.
Mr. Roosevelt wants to propose "breaking schools." News flash: The schools are already broken. How about if we "heal schools." The thing to do is "heal students." Fix the educational landscape of families in this region.
Let's think about "semi-autonomous 'learning communities'" for a few moments. I think that the best semi-autonomous learning community is a family. Furthermore, a thriving learning community isn't semi-autonomous. It is engagement and embrace of all assets and resources. To be semi-autonomous means you have to exclude and build walls.
Think of the internet. I want it everywhere. IP everwhere. I want learning everywhere. I want all resources at the ready and at our disposal when it comes to real learning enviroments.
The learning community here -- is called ... earth, if not universe. Pittsburgh Public Schools needs to play a dynamic role within our global marketplace of thinking, ideas and lessons. I think a call to 'semi-autonomous learning community' is really not about being in a modern urban community. The "semi" part must be the code word for thinking with only half your brain.
Enrollment at small high schools often is capped at 300 to 500 students.
We had a small high school -- South Vo Tech. It was closed. They called it too expensive. It was too expensive because it was too small. We turned our backs on those students in recent times and now we're saying what they had was just what we want. Unreal double-talk from a clueless district.
So, if we really want 'small communities of learning' -- then I look forward to the re-opening of South Vo Tech. The truth hurts. Their statements are lies, but they can be put to the test.We've had small schools in K-5 settings that were 'capped.' They too were closed because the size of the school was not fitting into the cookie cutter model that the school district wanted in its rightsizing agenda. The schools were filled. The schools were closed anyway.
This is all wrong.
You need to put the right number of kids into the right sized buildings. Furthermore, the buildings are already built. The buildings are there. So, the factors are numbers of students.
In very recent times the bone headed school leadership has been saying that this school should have 500 students -- but the building is only able to contain 400 or 350. So, there are a number of building expansion plans to make these buildings fit the number that some rightsizing plan wrongly requires.
The concept that Pitsburgh's old school leadership needs to consider in every discussion is capacity. If a school or even a bus functions with X amount of bodies -- then that's where we start.
Schools that are filled to capacity should not be closed.
For PAT, bus routes that are filled to capacity should continue to operate.
Meanwhile, Pgh Public School District spent a lot of money to rehab the once great Westinghouse High School. The building is majestic. It is modern and bright and jewel for any student, staff, teacher and community group. But in the real world of today's educational landscape, Westinghouse High School functions at a fraction of its ideal capacity -- based upon its building size.
Let's cap these learning communities based upon the existing building capacity. This is a functional measurement that goes into the forumula right from the beginning.
You don't try to cram 10-tons of students into an 8-ton container.
We've got schools that have been rightsized and they are jammed.
An honest approach to space would be welcomed. The A+ Schools report should contain a much better inventory of the phsysical assets, for school buildings, open and closed.
As South Vo Tech shrunk in its number of students, the thrid floor was closed. Students didn't attend classes in those classrooms. Easy adjustments need to be a priority.
The luckiest districts have financed restructuring with millions of dollars committed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
I'm not looking to live in a lucky district. I don't want to live in a 'lucky town.' I want to live in a place where we value and teach how to be self reliant. I want our schools to be valued for doing an excellent job in teaching our kids -- and luck has little to do with that mission. It is hard work dealing with everyone. It is hard work to put all the facts on the table and really get to understand a topic area -- and not have a blind spot. I want to say that Pgh Public Schools can thumb its nose to soft money of the Gates Foundation. That money can go to hopeless places -- like Philly -- where they have two stand alone slots parlors and are really lucky.
Listen to this double talk. First, "The traditional American high school is really an anachronism.
It was designed 100 years ago and really hasn't changed much since," said Naomi Housman, director of the National High School Alliance. As a result, she said, many schools aren't preparing students for today's world or holding students' interest on a daily basis. "They want to be engaged," Ms. Housman said. "They're just not finding it in the traditional high school.
Second, we are told this task force ran around the nation looking at schools throughout the country.
Don't paint with a broad brush. Some schools work. Some don't. And more to the point. Some schools are going to work for some kids while they fail other students. I'm a Libertarian swim coach so I understand the theme, "Different strokes for different folks."
The failure that makes the continual theme of hopelessness stems from the lack of choice.
Of course the trickle-up campaign didn't work. That's more smoke and double-talk.
Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, said high school improvements for years took a backseat to elementary school restructuring. But the desired "trickle-up" effect -- the idea that good habits established in primary years would pay dividends in high school -- didn't materialize.You want a good high school, work on high school education. You want good pre-school -- focus on pre-school education. You want a good high school, don't focus on college education when the kids are in the K-12 setting. Stick to the focus area. The Pittsburgh Promise is a trickle-up idea that is going to flop.
I've been a stay-at-home dad who has objected to advanced pre-school efforts in the educational community. Head start is nice for some. But, head-start programs should NOT be mandatory. Head start programs might make great head-start programs, but they are NOT the key for making great elementary schools. We could use some head start efforts in the community. But, I don't want to see the school district spend a lot of effort in that domain. A K-12 district needs to cooperate with head start educators and parents. But, a K-12 district, needs to focus on K-12 students.
Mr. Roosevelt has called high school improvement the year's top priority -- and I think his stance is nothing but a joke. If Roosevelt wanted to tackle high school education he'd be doing a dance with the public. He hides behind a task force of hand-picked cronies.
There are many things that can be done to improve our high schools, and I'll cover them in depth. They have not been done for years. The ideas I want to advance are cheap. They'd make a huge improvement. They would have happened already if Mr. Roosevelt and the board really cared. I think these folks are motivated by CYA tactics. They want to talk the talk, yet cover they're backsides. Few are really interested in making system wide changes and making those changes stick in the greater community.
Voting with one's feet looks like this:
35 percent of city students, including nearly half of all black males, drop out of high school. Other students, dissatisfied with academics and environment, opt for charter or suburban schools.I don't want a task force to shape a plan. I want a school board and superintendent to shape a plan. I want to engage the public in efforts of peer review so as to shape a future.
District Chief of Staff Lisa Fischetti said board members tomorrow will hear about lessons the task force has learned and how that information will shape a plan, to be unveiled in the spring, for improving city schools.Information that should shape a plan is called 'data.' The data should be online for all to see.
Here is another task that a real task force might do. Examine the data collection and data reporting to the public. Examine the formulas for operations in Pgh Public Schools and beyond. Make accountability evident in both school performance and finances. I want to know teacher, building, classroom, grade and subject perfomances -- in real time. This would be a fine task for a task force. Then we'd have transparent models and knowledge for making better choices.
This next statement give a serious worry for two reasons. First, evolution occurs in many tiny steps. Organic changes are healthy. Give us piecemeal. Don't give radical shifts that ignore the results of the past. The results of the students at the schools that were re-tooled were thrown out the window and not even published in the A+ Schools report. They want to churn and not keep a record of where we've been.
While some districts have remade high schools on a piecemeal basis, she said, Pittsburgh's effort will be system-wide change that builds on current "pockets of excellence."
There are pockets of excellence within the PPS, but they have never been noticed nor rewarded. Often, they are discounted. Furthermore, the pockets of excellence within the elementary schools, the magnet schools where foreign languages are taught from K and up, has been discounted. The right-sizing plans didn't center upon the pockets of excellence.
The gifted education plan is a pocket of excellence and it is under a cloud of cuts too.
Another worry: Let's not design a school improvement plan and lean upon marketing savvy. Put lipstick on a pig and claim victory.
Other than CAPA, a theme-based school, the next best theme was Vo Tech. And, South Vo Tech closed. If you liked theme-based schools, Janis Ripper, where you fighting for the continual operation of South??? I did.
"We liked the theme-based schools," said Janis Ripper, the principal assigned to coordinate the task force.The buzz word, academies, seems more like a CYA task, given the recent rightsizing.
Ms. Ripper said team members observed enthusiastic instruction and innovative ideas, such as "academies" -- one example of a small learning community -- to isolate ninth-graders from upperclassmen in a building. But cold data on achievement gains were elusive.Cold data was elusive. That's what I mean. We need a task force to uncover and insure cold data.
There is an educational trend -- new is better. New is better when asking to spend more money. New is better when you don't know where you are going. New is better when you didn't do a good job with the not-so-new.
"Some of the schools had some data," she said. "But one thing to keep in mind with high school reform: Because it is so new, a lot of schools were in the process of a two- or three-year plan. Data wasn't as available as we'd like."Likewise, I'm certain that the data isn't going to be available to defend a massive change to the landscape of our high schools in Pittsburgh.
Paul Vallas, chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia, said he's pleased with a continuing overhaul there that's increased the number of high schools from about 50 to 80.Exactly. "continual overhaul."
He said the district with 180,000 students, more than six times Pittsburgh's enrollment, has moved toward smaller schools with college preparatory curriculums, signature programs and dual enrollment arrangements that allow students to take college classes. Nineteen of the high schools are charter schools. In all, 30 district and charter high schools met federal performance standards last year.Again, the good is the fact that there are some charter schools. But, the problem is that the Pgh Public School board and administrators have always been fighting the charter schools. They've put up many roadblocks to specialized private and charter schools.
The dual enrollment part is nice as it comes closer to what I'd like to see. Rather than dual enrollment, give enrollment freedom. Get rid of the confinements of high school choice. Allow any kid in the city to go to any school. It can't be quite that simple, but it should be.
"I like to say we've gone from failure to adequacy. Now, the key is to get to excellence," said Mr. Vallas, who's faced some of the same academic and financial problems as Mr. Roosevelt.Could someone please explain the financial problems of Pgh Public Schools. Just saying that they are there is not a real way to lead. That's call crying. Poor, poor us doesn't wash from my perspective. Why, exactly, does the district think it is with financial problems? -- Perhaps because of the charter schools???
No matter their neighborhoods, Mr. Vallas said, Philadelphia students have a choice of at least three high schools. BINGO. But our choice in Pittsburgh can be for eight or ten schools.
North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District offers signing bonuses of as much as $15,000 to build elite teacher corps at four low-performing high schools. ... Humm... Did you hear swim coach David Marsh is going to MAC and starting a program of excellence. His job brings a $1-million pay check. Interesting. Now we're talking "sizable."
Thanks for the article Joe.
Summary: A year long effort to reform our high schools is a wonderful idea. Too bad the process and efforts so far just compound the problems. I want to get to the roots of the problems, as do plenty of others. This article proves, again, to me, that Roosevelt's leadership is without a firm grasp of the keys to our situations.
Furthermore, I've got different ideas. Others have solid ideas as well.
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