Sala Udin ‘sounds the alarm’
by Rob Taylor Jr.
Courier Staff Writer
If Sala Udin and Anthony Hamlet, Ed.D., get together for brunch anytime soon, the last thing they’ll be discussing is the food.
Udin, the outspoken politician, civil rights advocate, and current Pittsburgh Public Schools board member, is furious with what he calls a lack of student achievement among Black students in the district. And while he’s not squarely placing the blame on Dr. Hamlet, the district superintendent, Udin does not want his fellow board members to vote Dr. Hamlet to another full term.
“People ask me what to do,” Udin said in a letter sent to the New Pittsburgh Courier, Aug. 12, entitled “Sound the Alarm.” “The most generous answer I can come up with is for the whole city to demand that the School Board consider extending the superintendent’s contract for one year due to COVID-19, while the board prepares to conduct a real superintendent search. But renewing it for four or five years? No way. If we can’t demand that one simple thing, then we are all guilty for the loss of opportunity to literally save our children.”
Dr. Hamlet was unanimously approved by School Board members in 2016 to become the district’s next superintendent. On July 1, 2016, he officially took office. The next year, he and his top brass introduced a five-year strategic plan labeled “Expect Great Things,” intended to eliminate the racial achievement gap, reduce suspensions, and provide additional resources to teachers and schools.
Now, three years into the plan (along with an unforeseen coronavirus pandemic), everyone from parents, administrators, board members, students and former students have varying opinions on if the plan is working.
When it comes to the numerical data, is the glass half-full or half-empty? On one hand, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ graduation rate for all students has been on the rise. In 2014-15, the rate was 70 percent. By 2017-18, the rate rocketed to 78.6 percent.
On the other hand, the third-grade reading proficiency rates for Black students on PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) exams has dipped, from 46 percent in 2017-18 to 38 percent in 2018-19. For White students, it also dipped from 77 percent to 72 percent in 2018-19, but it’s still 34 percentage points higher than Black students.
Udin, in his letter, said bluntly that “the majority of Black students in PPS are failing in reading and math at levels of 70-90 percent!” He cited Westinghouse 6-12’s math proficiency levels for Black students in grades 6-8 at the school. In 2019, the level was 2 percent. Throughout the district, the level for Black students in grades 6-8 was 8 percent. The number was 42 percent for White students district-wide.
“When schools closed last spring, the majority of Black students in PPS were already several grade levels behind, especially in reading and math, and especially among Black males,” Udin said. “The reopening plans submitted by the school administration, thus far, include no mention of this fact and therefore, include no strategy for ‘catching up’ students who are academically less than proficient (failing) and in need of special attention.”
Come Aug. 31, Pittsburgh Public Schools will officially begin the academic year for students, but it’s all remote learning for at least the first nine weeks, after the board voted in favor of board member Kevin Carter’s resolution to halt in-school learning.
Udin feels as though the School Board is “close to locking in another contract” for Dr. Hamlet, which is why he’s “sounding the alarm,” in his words. Dr. Hamlet’s current five-year contract expires on June 30, 2021.
The board has until Feb. 1, 2021, to decide to renew his contract or part ways.
“None of his supporters will argue that a contract renewal is warranted because he has done a spectacular job in academic outcomes for PPS students,” Udin said. “He has not, and everybody knows it. His supporters make excuses for the poor academic performance because they want to ‘give him another chance.’ Or, ‘We don’t want to engage in another lynching of a Black male leader, like they did Dr. John Thompson.’ His sycophants will not even argue that Dr. Hamlet has shown sufficient promise that he is likely to turn this disaster around in the next four or five years. They are sticking with him, not for the benefit of the children, but because he is on their team and nobody is willing to let the team take a defeat.”
Dr. Hamlet has not publicly commented on Udin’s letter, but Ebony Pugh, PPS spokesperson, told the Courier exclusively that since Dr. Hamlet’s arrival, Black student suspensions have greatly decreased. She also said graduation rates have improved for Black students.
Wendy Bell, KDKA’s controversial afternoon radio host and former WTAE-TV anchor, invited Udin on her radio show on Friday, Aug. 21, which Udin accepted.
“My perspectives are based on results, and when I looked at the results of over three or four years, I did not see significant improvement for the general school district, and I was especially alarmed by the high percentage of failure of African American students throughout the district,” Udin said on KDKA Radio.
Udin went on to say that the “amount of failure for African American students’ learning” was “criminal.”
A few moments later, Udin, on KDKA Radio, called it “unmentionable” to consider renewing a contract for Dr. Hamlet, who he said “just did not deliver. He may be a nice guy, he may wear beautiful suits, and wonderful cologne, but the bottom line has to be, ‘What is the outcome?’”
