PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - A Pittsburgh Public Schools board member says superintendent Anthony Hamlet is not the man to move the district forward.
Sala Udin, School Board Director for District 3, says the city's schools are failing to educate black children and it's only going to get worse with online classes.
In a document released by Udin on Thursday, he wrote "The grading system for academic performance in Pennsylvania is no longer graded A, B, C, D, E (Failing). Nor is it numerically measured 100-90%, 89-80%, 79-70% and below 70 was failing. Today, grades follow four categories: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic.
"In my judgement, if students are not Proficient, then they have failed to demonstrate that they have sufficiently mastered the necessary requirements of knowledge and skills to move forward to the next elevated grade level."
According to data provided by Udin, 28 schools in Pittsburgh Public Schools with more than 50 percent African American enrollment have, on average, a higher percentage of failing African American students in reading and math than those passing for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 school years. The information was pulled from the PSSA reading and math test results. PSSA testing did not take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I have also been asked to state clearly, that these reports do not reflect the views of the full Board of Directors, rather just my own," Udin wrote. "Indeed, that is the case."
The criticism comes as the school board considers an extension of Hamlet’s contract.
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