Pittsburgh City Council met to discuss some of the issues at Pittsburgh Public Schools.
It was supposed to be a meeting between City Council, the PPS Superintendent Dr. Anthony Hamlet and School Board President Sylvia Wilson, plus Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers president Nina Esposito-Visgitis.
Because of what was described as unavailable delay, only Esposito-Visgitis was there.
Council members asked her why the racial achievement gap in the district continues to be so big.
She pointed to a lacking community schools model, which some other cities have mastered.
"Things are taken care of so a teacher can teach. They're not dealing with all the things some of our teachers are dealing with."
She said other schools have on-site dental care and legal aid, and added PPS needs more funding to bolster those types of services.
In addition to the wide range of topics covered in the meeting, Esposito-Visgitis also talked about the return to school in the fall.
She said the plan is still to bring kids back to the classroom 5 days a week next academic year, as long as the district solves one lingering problem - a bus driver shortage.
"We all want enough bus drivers to kids to school, so that's the only concern."
