Just because Pittsburgh Superintendent of Schools Anthony Hamlet has already held multiple meetings with parents, education advocates and stakeholders from across the city and incorporated the feedback into the district’s visioning, it doesn’t mean he’s stopped listening.
During a recent forum in Homewood, Hamlet said he will continue to gather community input for as long as he is superintendent.
“I’ve said this before. I want this to be my first and last Superintendency,” he said. “I want to be here 10-15 years because you can’t create consistency if every two or three years there’s someone new in charge.”
The Feb. 17 forum, sponsored by the United Front for Education (UFE), was held at the Homewood branch of the Community College of Allegheny County.
The UFE had asked to meet with Hamlet so it could present him an educational model it has been crafting, designed “to educate our children so that they are competent and committed to solve the critical problems of their families, community and the world,” and to build a relationship with him to jointly shape the best possible education for children.
“We’re still working on it,” said UFE member and Pitt emeritus Professor Shirley Biggs, who presented the plan to Hamlet. “It’s an organic, growing experience that we want to share with Pittsburgh Public Schools.”
The curriculum plan, she summarized, called for enhanced arts and esthetic instruction, financial literacy, the history of who Black Americans are and where they came from, more training in effective and persuasive communication—including listening, and even what used to be called Home Economics.
“A lot of young people don’t know how to cook a meal,” said Biggs. “Now, all of these areas support each other. They are not silos. It’s an interwoven holistic vision.”
Other presenters, like Princess Hughes, told Hamlet about how she has successfully increased parent involvement among disadvantaged families of children at Weil Elementary in the Hill District, using things like music contests, playground building, and video production to create an enjoyable experience.
“Fun can correlate with education,” she said.
During the question and answer session, Hamlet said the district has already sketched out some similar ideas.
“I’m interested and excited to see that we have ideas that are aligned,” he said. “I think we’re together but exactly what that content, of a culturally relevant pedagogy will look like because we want to make sure we get it right.”
Hamlet also said he and the administrative staff are working to make sure they don’t have policies in place that set Black students up for failure.
“Also, there’s this big push for Restorative Justice right now—and I love Restorative Justice—but that’s after the fact. That’s after the kid’s already in trouble,” he said. “So, we’re looking at ways of making sure we have some positive behavior up front.”
Rose Moriarty, retired principal at Miller African-Centered Academy, said there is a sustainability problem with kids losing what they get in elementary school, at the middle school level, because principals move in and out and don’t always support programs that had been previously working.
“We tailor programs to our children—principals aren’t about coming in and changing things because I don’t like this—it’s about you being a natural fit. If they bolster what’s there that’s great—that’s what I want to bring to the table.,” he said, adding.
“Since I came to Pittsburgh I’ve talked about the lack of robust curriculum for our 6-8 students. We want continuums across the system.”
(J.L Martello contributed to this story.)
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