Dear Editor:
The Western PA Black Political Assembly was founded in 2003 with purpose of educating and empowering the African American community politically. We are writing an open letter to the City of Pittsburgh to state our full and unequivocal support of Dr. Anthony Hamlet the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. And we are calling on the Pittsburgh Board of Education to renew its contract with our current Superintendent.
The purpose of this letter is to lend our voice to the many in this community who believe Dr. Hamlet has built a foundation in the last 4 years that has yielded gains for all students, particularly for African American students.
The most important question we must ask of any Superintendent is: Are we making progress towards our ultimate goal? That goal is ALL children are making the academic progress necessary to be productive and successful adults.” It is indisputable that under the leadership of Dr. Anthony Hamlet the answer is—YES.
The success of the Pittsburgh Public Schools is inextricably linked to the success not only of this city, but our region. We know that many of our children are not reaching their academic potential. We know at times that there will be negative incidents in our schools, wrongdoing by school officials, and turnover in staff, but again the most important question remains.
While there is still work to be done the African American community is pleased with the progress toward all students achieving academic equity. Here are but a few examples:
https://www.ppsstrategicplan.org/strategic-plan
1. Engaged, as part of his Look, Listen, and Learn Tour, more than 3,500 constituents. Over the course of 30 days, the Superintendent held 10 community-based listening sessions, special meetings with principals, teachers, bus drivers, administrative staff, regional stakeholders and students, and an online survey. The tour, additionally included visits to all 54 District schools, two center programs and a school bus ride with some of the District’s English language learners.
2. Launched in spring of 2017 the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan: Expect Great Things
3. Improved the percent of students, since 2015, scoring proficient or advanced Grades 3 – 8 Combined has grown on all three exams. Mathematics increased from 25.6 percent in 2015 to 28.7 percent in 2020. ELA/Reading increased from 42.8 percent in 2015 to 47.3 percent in 2019. Science performance increased from 46.5 in 2015 to 49.8 percent in 2019. Since 2015, the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced Grades 3 – 8 Combined has grown on all three exams. Mathematics increased from 25.6 percent in 2015 to 28.7 percent in 2020. ELA/Reading increased from 42.8 percent in 2015 to 47.3 percent in 2019. Science performance increased from 46.5 in 2015 to 49.8 percent in 2019 In ELA/Reading the percent of students performing Below Basic decreased from 19.2 percent in 2015 to 13.3 percent in 2019. In Science, the percentage of students performing Below Basic decreased by double digits, moving down from 31.7 percent in 2015 to 21.4 percent in 2019. The number of students performing at the lowest level, below basic, in grades 3 to 8 Combined also decreased, meaning more students are growing academically.
4. Increased the graduation rates, the 4-year cohort graduation rate is based on the number of students within a group who graduate within four years. Graduation rates are reported a year later to account for credit recovery programs. Official state reports show the District has maintained growth in the 4-year cohort graduation rate since 2015 for all students. Additionally, students of both genders and African American students have had increases throughout the past five years.
5. Re-routed school bus routes to deliver reliable transportation to the District’s most vulnerable youths.
6. Launched the district-wide Student Advisory Council to ensure that students have a voice at the highest level.
7. Challenged the public to hold him accountable through making the District more transparent and accessible. The public can now track the progress of the Pittsburgh Public Schools through Data Dashboards which include data related to Key Performance Indicators within the District such as Algebra 1, 9th Grade Pass Rates, Graduation Rates, Pittsburgh Promise Eligibility, and performance on State Accountability Exams.
The African American community of Pittsburgh, will never forget what happened to our first permanent Black Superintendent Dr. John Thompson, who did not get a renewal of his contract. We vow never to allow the treatment of Dr. Thompson to ever occur again. Let us be perfectly clear, we are standing by this Superintendent.
Rick Adams
Johnnie Monroe
Richard (Rick) Adams, Co-Convener WPBPA theradioactivist@prodigy.net
Rev. Johnnie Monroe, Steering Committee Member WPBPA jmon5611@gmail.com
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