Have you ever cried for help? Have you ever cried for help and no one hears you? Certainly that's what it must feel like to be a Pittsburgh Public School student.
Thousands of PPS students struggle during the good times. Covid19 made a bad situation worse. Students by the thousands fell behind. Heck, it took months to get nearly twenty thousand students laptops for remote learning.
Once the laptops arrived, countless students refused to use the technology. One teacher told me "they checked out." Administrators came up with a plan. PPS decided to provide "catch up" programs for students who fell behind. Great idea, right?
Bad idea, a really bad idea. Turns out, there a not enough teachers who are willing to teach the summer catch up classes. At least a thousand students who signed up for the Catch Up classes have no teachers to teach them.
One more body blow to kids already struggling. One more "we don't care" message sent to kids who really deserve a chance. No one leads. All we get are excuses.
No wonder the district has lost so many students and so much respect. One insider told me "we're losing em Marty. It's a disgrace."
It's a damn shame.
