Contract renewal should be a public decision
Superintendent Anthony Hamlet’s contract will expire in June 2021. The decision to renew the superintendent’s contract should not be limited to a school board conversation. It should be a public conversation.
The condition of education in Pittsburgh concerns us all — parents, elected officials, the philanthropic community, educational institutions, service providers, corporate Pittsburgh — all of us.
In 2016, this school board made a terrible decision in overpaying and contracting with a search firm that had never conducted a superintendent search. Not surprisingly, the search came forward with a top candidate who had never been a superintendent. Mr. Hamlet has made, what one board member calls, “rookie mistakes.”
Mr. Hamlet’s decision to take four administrators on a trip to Cuba, without school board authorization, was not a “mistake.” It uncovered a serious character flaw. His inability to attract and keep talent in his administration and his inability to raise the educational performance of Black students (indeed, all students) is not a “mistake.”
Certainly, many Black children were already below grade level in reading and math before Mr. Hamlet arrived. That is not his fault.But the hope of the city in selecting an educational leader is that that leader is transformational — someone who will mobilize the city and his administration to lead us out of this morass and put us on a path to building a great school district.
As we respond to the demands of the day, that Black Lives Matter, and we claim to be political leaders in a city that seeks to remove the legacy of systemic racism, poverty and educational failure, where does public education fit into the equation? If you are an elected official, are you leading a city whose children cannot read? Don’t stand on the sidelines observing. That’s not leadership! Suit up and get in the game. We’re about to repeat a huge mistake, from which may take generations to recover.
I have provided the Department of Education data on the horrendous academic performance of Black students under Mr. Hamlet’s leadership. In my district over the last three years, more than 80% of the students were failing in reading, and more than 90% were failing in math. The statistics are similar at other predominately Black schools in the district.
Mr. Hamlet has not earned a contract renewal.