"Knowledge is power," or so they say. Well, power to the people...
About 3 percent of the notices went to teachers with 10 or more years of service, including some in career and technology education fields. About 3 percent went to those with one year or less of service.
The largest number of notices went to elementary-certified teachers in kindergarten through sixth grade: 83, or 29 percent, of the notices. Among them are teachers who have a little more than seven years of service. (P-G, Eleanor Chute)
Do we have a plan for managing this unique adversity to our youngest people, aside from castigating Governor Tom Corbett? Will these layoffs amount to very much in the future of the present generation's children? How will those affected weather the storm? Are there any moves we can make to soften these blows? Or to unify our communities around demonstrating that restoring taxpayer funding to urban primary education is worthwhile and appropriate? Did Superintendent Linda Lane and PFT president Nina Esposito-Visgitis bond in Cincinatti? Is either the labor community or the foundation community in Pittsburgh happy fighting with each other?
More mysteriously, where did the bajillion dollar grant from Bill & Melinda Gates for developing excellence in teachers evaporate to?
ReplyDeleteWithout the gnashing of teeth for one minute, can you please explain the cuts in context? The budget is still huge, the student/teacher ratio can't even be stated clearly and when the white flight occurs again in the new school year, maybe this hysteria will have been for more political and racial motivations. PPS has been losing students for years, when should that show up and be reflected in the budgets? To call for rallies when we could stand more light and less heat is reactionary and unfair to the people who are trying to deal with the realities of the PPS District. I respect Dr Lane and trust her insight and knowledge. There are a lot of axes being ground and a lot of obfuscation by the players.
ReplyDeleteWe white people can't actually fly. That's just a rumor.
ReplyDeleteDo the math.
ReplyDeletePPS has grades K to 12 = 13. Article says 29% of possible now work at 6th grade and lower.
None have been spared, but it is not just A hit for the wee ones as you hint.
Figure some students depart in grades 11 and 12 too, sadly.
Looking forward to more...
ReplyDelete