tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post1989718232426606702..comments2023-12-24T05:26:48.861-05:00Comments on The Pittsburgh Comet: Public Education, Redevelopment, the Race and the ClockBram Reichbaumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-65248964233128326432012-05-16T20:01:16.747-04:002012-05-16T20:01:16.747-04:00One of the two organizations is responsible for en...One of the two organizations is responsible for ensuring quality public education is available to everyone and it's not the PFT. Given the choice between the PPS and the PFT, I trust the PPS to make decisions to improve public education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-19737452627083921202012-05-16T15:26:26.391-04:002012-05-16T15:26:26.391-04:00I have a hard time beleiving they can evaluate tea...I have a hard time beleiving they can evaluate teachers in the PPS fairly. I've read and seen too much to know that money, politics, who you know and are related to just to name a few. The PPS's has lots of snakes in the grass all over! I don't trust this whole direction this is going towards.<br />We'll see.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-4683937429355553012012-05-16T11:55:03.715-04:002012-05-16T11:55:03.715-04:00The student-teacher ratio is currently 15:1. This...The student-teacher ratio is currently 15:1. This metric does not correlate with improved academic performance, as research during the past two decades appears to indicate. @JenEngland, this does not mean that there are 15 kids in every class. It is simply based on the total number of teachers on staff divided by the total enrollment. Of course, the teacher layoffs would disporportionately affect the schools serving the lowest income students, who need the best teachers. Even if the most effective teachers in the district are found to be working right now in these schools, if they're at the low end of the seniority ladder, then eff them, so goes the position of the PFT. The PPS believes there is a better way to make these cuts, and they have research to suggest that it can be done fairly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-8579536470390146202012-05-15T14:51:48.633-04:002012-05-15T14:51:48.633-04:00There is simply no way the real and effective stud...There is simply no way the real and effective student teacher ration is as low as 14 to 1 in PPS. My kids have a combined 21 years of class time in PPS and accept for maybe (MAYBE) a stray HS elective like creative writing neither one has been in a class with so few students. There are currently 40 or 50 kids in my daughter's 7th grade Gym class and in the halcyon days of the 90s my son's elementary classes typically had 24 kids or so in them. I have no idea what funny math makes that ratio happen, but it just isn't real when it comes to class size.JenEnglandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04187324279024758768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-46127072612246145982012-05-12T19:08:40.340-04:002012-05-12T19:08:40.340-04:00The PPS budget will shrink, and there are probably...The PPS budget will shrink, and there are probably forms of fat in it that can be identified and trimmed. In the long view, in which we are all dead, it is said that to everything there is a season -- and this is just the onset of a winter is all.<br /><br />However to your point, when money becomes introduced into the discussion, those aggregations of wealth which elude corresponding taxation just become a very real flip side of your coin.<br /><br />Ze region, she is quite productive, but zat is not very well reflected in many municipal, county or school budgets.Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-44128821286544262052012-05-12T14:39:28.164-04:002012-05-12T14:39:28.164-04:00Social contracts are understood, however when is m...Social contracts are understood, however when is money allowed to be part of the discussion? I'm a city tax payer and I can see the value of a well educated populist. But when the tone is all about high minded ideas without allowing for fiscal consideration in the mix is unfair. The PPS budget is larger than the City of Pittsburghs budget. Just sayin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-46267162337350379282012-05-12T13:15:10.824-04:002012-05-12T13:15:10.824-04:00What changed? Lots of things, but it changed. Drug...What changed? Lots of things, but it changed. Drug wars, suburban flight, a shrinking middle class, intractable segregation, a crummy culture...<br /><br />Would steeper teacher:student ratios or more charters and/or vouchers stand a real chance of changing anything back? Or are these proffered simply to sidestep the challenges by filing them under "No Longer Shared"?Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-63230398868610848502012-05-12T10:29:19.541-04:002012-05-12T10:29:19.541-04:0014:1 sounds pretty reasonable to me. What has made...14:1 sounds pretty reasonable to me. What has made this ratio so untenable? Is it social issues? Years ago 20:1 was effective to learn. We expected kids to sit down and listen, come to school, do homework...What changed? I'm getting sick of this nanny state.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-2920571742401304242012-05-12T09:56:34.657-04:002012-05-12T09:56:34.657-04:00In 2004 says here the t:s ratio was 11.4 to 1 or m...In 2004 says here the t:s ratio was <a href="http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-Northeast/Pittsburgh-Education-and-Research.html" rel="nofollow">11.4 to 1</a> or maybe <a href="http://www.areavibes.com/pittsburgh-pa/education/" rel="nofollow">14:1</a> more recently. In other words I need better data.<br /><br />The coarse relationship to actual class sizes should be understood to reflect arts teachers, gym and health teachers, different tracks and different subjects at the hs level. Now, the effects of declining enrollment would probably argue towards a narrowing ratio, but also remember the impact of any big cuts would not be felt uniformly. As usual, the crud can probably be relied upon to roll downhill, where there is doubtless already a deal of crud.Bram Reichbaumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05620172942925293407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1588280325775325323.post-80702917483587769702012-05-12T09:05:47.853-04:002012-05-12T09:05:47.853-04:00For some context, what is the ratio of teacher to ...For some context, what is the ratio of teacher to student? How does this relate to the declining school population?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com