Burgess, Lavelle want to declare ‘educational emergency’ for PPS
Two Pittsburgh City Council members introduced a resolution Tuesday declaring an “educational emergency” after the Pittsburgh Public Schools board voted last week to keep learning for all students online as the COVID-19 crisis continues.
The resolution, introduced by council members Ricky Burgess and Daniel Lavelle, urges a collaborative relationship with the school district to work on opening elementary schools and increasing tutoring as well as correcting what they called long-term equity issues in the district.
The school board said the resolution “has not fallen upon deaf ears” and expressed a willingness to work with the city even though several members indicated they did not appreciate the manner in which the council members put forward the resolution.
City government and the school district operate as separate entities.
Hours before the school board voted Jan. 27 to keep school buildings closed until April, Mr. Burgess denounced the current remote learning model.
“These kids aren’t learning,” he said, adding that it may be time to “flex” council’s oversight of students’ well-being.
The Burgess-Lavelle resolution calls for conversations about extending the school year, instituting summer learning programs and providing supportive services to “reduce trauma” caused by the city’s “twin public health crises, COVID-19 and institutional racism.”
“This emergency will have long-term negative consequences for families in the city and the district but will disproportionately affect the health
and safety of the city’s African-American families in particular,” Mr. Burgess said in a news release.
The proposed resolution highlights learning gaps between white students and students of color in Pittsburgh Public Schools shown in standardized tests and as reported by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in October.
“The PPS scores in reading and math are abysmal and that was before the COVID-19 shutdown. I have two grade-school kids in the PPS and know firsthand the educational challenges during the pandemic,” Mr. Lavelle said.
School board President Sylvia Wilson addressed the resolution at a meeting later Tuesday with a statement that said the board was “encouraged” by the attention from City Council.
“It is a resounding message of unity announcing that we are not alone in this fight to successfully return our students to our buildings,” the statement said. “More importantly, we are unmovable in our stance to uphold racial educational equality and to right the wrongs that have put Black students at a disadvantage for centuries before us.”
But the statement also said no one from the city contacted district officials or board members before introducing the resolution. It said the district had held numerous meetings about its plans for dealing with the pandemic, and it added that the health and safety of students, staff and the community had been its top priority.
The board also said it wanted the city to return earned income tax revenue that had been diverted from the district to the city when
Pittsburgh was financially distressed.
“[I]t is important for our board to speak with you — the city — in order to cease the collection of $20 million per year of earned income tax revenue levied by the school district but taken by the city when it was financially distressed,” the statement said. “The city’s status has ended and absorbing the $20 million should end as well. The district can and will apply those funds to address the many needs of the students and families of our district.”
School board member Sala Udin said he agreed with Mr. Burgess and Mr. Lavelle because the data in the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission report “clearly indicate the existence of an educational emergency.”
“However, I think it is urgent that other stakeholders are invited to the table — community leaders, faith leaders, foundation leaders, business leaders, other political leaders,” Mr. Udin said. “This is an all-handson-deck situation.”
Still, the reaction to the move was not all positive. Several school board members expressed dismay that City Council got involved this late and in the manner in which it did without contacting the board.
Board member Bill Gallagher said he had heard that not all City Council members knew the resolution was going to be introduced Tuesday, and he added that those who did should have handled it differently.
“Some of these guys should get on Facebook and read about the roads after a snowstorm,” Mr. Gallagher said. “Everybody’s a Monday morning quarterback. They didn’t want to be involved until this time. I’m not down with it at all.”
Earlier Tuesday, school
board member Kevin Carter said in a text message that he found the resolution “mighty ridiculous.”
“They can pass as much legislation as they feel fit,” he said. “But the law does not require us to work with them. Whether we will or won’t will be up to the PPS Government Relations Committee, which I chair.”
Jennifer Murtazashvili, a city parent who recently started home-schooling her three Colfax PreK-8 students because she was unsatisfied with the remote instruction provided by the district, said it was long past due for city government to get involved in the school system.
“They should have done this a year ago,” she said. “We’ve been in this health crisis for a year. Obviously, what goes on in the schools is an important part of what goes on in the city.”
Even though she knows the school district is a separate entity, Ms. Murtazashvili said she was mystified by the silence on school-related issues from Mayor Bill Peduto and, previously, City Council. She said mayors in other cities with similar constituencies have stepped in and worked to reopen schools, and she questioned why it had not happened here.
The relationship between the city government and school board, she said, should not be a factor when
it comes to the well-being and education of children.
“If our school board and our City Council leaders can’t get along, we all deserve better,” she said. “It’s disgraceful.”
The mayor’s office said it was reviewing the measure.
Chris Rosselot, the parent of two district students, said the rancorous relationship between City Council and the school district was indicative of “old governmental turf issues.”
Mr. Rosselot ran for City Council in 2019 on a platform that included trying to rebuild the relationship. He said the divide between the city and the district does a disservice to the community.
“The ultimate goal should be the betterment of our kids and providing a better future,” Mr. Rosselot said. “If that’s not the goal, then I don’t know why they’re serving.”
Because they serve the same communities, he said, it is crucial that the city and district collaborate.
“I don’t think that the school board has a monopoly on education policy,” Mr. Rosselot said. “It’s important for City Council and city government to be a participant when it comes to official local education policy.”