District 3- Sala Udin
Q: Are you in favor of raising property taxes? Why or why not?
A: I am generally in favor of increasing revenue to the school district as much as we can. But, I am not in favor of raising taxes currently and have voted against it in the last several budget presentations because I believe we need to have a strategic plan that tells us how additional revenues will be utilized to improve student performance. I am not in favor of raising revenues to inflate the administration. It has to be directed towards improved student performance. If I'm convinced of that I would support it, otherwise I will continue to oppose raising taxes.
Q: Pittsburgh Public Schools is facing a systemic deficit of millions of dollars a year, how would you work to address the deficit in both the near future and the long term?
A: The administration continues to recommend budgets that have a built-in operating deficit. Over the last few years we have squandered a healthy surplus with built-in deficits. I think the Board of Directors has to hold the administration more accountable and require them to present a balanced budget, and not a budget that contains a built-in deficit.
Q: Do you think Pittsburgh Public Schools current physical footprint matches the needs of the students we serve? Why or why not?
A: The current physical footprint of our schools is the same footprint that has existed for several decades with the exception of schools that have been closed. Every ten years when the Census is done, the footprint and the demographics of the city changes. But the board does not assess the demographic changes and modify the footprint to accommodate those changes. What the Board has to do is require the administration to present an assessment of what the demographic changes are in the current Census and what their recommendations are to modify the footprint. It cannot be a political decision, it has to be based upon the data provided by the Census. We have not done that kind of assessment, and I would insist that the administration conduct that kind of assessment to match the footprint with the data.
Q: Superintendent Dr. Hamlet has started a Student Advisory Panel to incorporate student voice into the administrations. How will you ensure student perspectives are heard and factored into board decisions?
A: I would support a student representative on the Board of Directors. So far, the student voice initiative has been a superficial student voice, and the Superintendent must be required to demonstrate to the board how student voice has been incorporated into his recommendations. Right now we give lip service to student voice but don't fully consider it in our deliberations.
Q: What are your top 3 priorities to improve the district?
A: 1. Change the way we teach children to read. In my District, 20-30% of the students are proficient in reading and math by the end of the third grade. That deficit affects their performance throughout the rest of their school career. We have to change the way we teach children how to read. That would be my #1 priority. 2. Change how the board holds administration accountable. We have a crisis in public education in Pittsburgh Public Schools. A large majority of students are failing, but the Board and the administration seems to be rather complacent about this crisis. The Board has to address the crisis in a strategic way. 3. Change the cultural approach to the curriculum. We need greater emphasis on ethnic diversity and combined with that take steps to increase the cultural demographics of our teaching workforce. We need to attract more teachers of color, especially males.
Q: What are 3 things you think the district is doing well and how will you support those initiatives?
A: There are some things that are going well, despite the academic crisis. 1. The teaching magnet program at Brashear High School to train teachers and have them become part of our teaching workforce is a program that I fully support. 2. The Career and Technical Education Program (CTE) is preparing students for careers, licensing, and union apprenticeships. 3. The community schools concept especially when combined with restorative justice can reduce a lot of potential conflict. We're not doing it well, but the fact that we're attempting to do it is a positive design in our school culture.
Q: Teaching in Pittsburgh Public Schools is a great opportunity. As a board member how will you promote teaching in the district so that we attract high quality diverse teachers?
A: I think we need to grow these teachers them from our own resources rather than trying to attract high quality diverse teachers from someplace else. There are a lot of potential great teachers in Pittsburgh, and we need to give them the opportunity to become trained and certified to join our teaching workforce. Secondly, there is a program trying to get off the ground in collaboration with Carlow University to train the current substitute teachers to become certified teachers. Right now our substitute workforce is probably 60% people of color. That's where we're going to get our teaching workforce rather than thinking we will attract people from outside of Pittsburgh.
Q: What is your vision of a community school? How will you as a board member work to create partnerships to strengthen our schools?
A: We have a good foundation for getting started, but it requires a culture that is welcoming to outside resources being part of the school culture. Right now, to some extent, the community organizations that could become a part of Community Schools still are made to feel unwelcome. We have to change that culture and engage various aspects of the community in making a contribution to the schools. The community is willing. The school district has to open its doors and open its arms and welcome the community into the schools. That has not happened. We have not put the community schools concept into the budget of our school system as a high priority. Until we see Community Schools reflected in the budget as a high priority, it will not be a high priority. I would require the administration to show us where are Community Schools provided for in the budget and identify how much of the budget is dedicated to the development of community schools. Until that answer is provided, I would not approve the budget that is presented by the administration.
Q: What resources do you think schools need to better engage with families with limited English proficiency? How will you advocate for those resources?
A: The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) has created a very robust program for immigrants and people with English as a second language, but those programs have not been incorporated into the school system. The administration has to develop a close collaboration with DHS to bring those resources that are being provided in the community (but not in the schools) to bring those in as part of the Community Schools concept. They're right in our neighborhoods and they're providing great services to the community, but they have not been invited in. That's what has to happen.
Q: In general how do you think the district has handled the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: The District had a very slow rollout of the strategy because we were not on top of it. We should have been able to anticipate better than we did. We were caught flatfooted when the announcement was made that schools were going to be closed and start remote learning. The administration deserves credit for being very responsive to the needs of families that rely on the District for nutritious meals. But the District was not as responsive in terms of providing academic support to students who could not come to school. . It took us a long time to get written resources to our students. It took us an even longer time to get devices and internet access to families as much as they were needed. Finally, we still do not have a way of measuring and monitoring learning loss in the public school system. We're going to have to do that, but we haven't done that as of yet. I would grade the response a C- or a D.
Q: How are you going to deal with the drop in grades and catching students up both near term and for the long haul?
A: I think we have to collaborate with the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham College and other higher learning institutions to help us figure out how to accurately measure what the learning loss has been and develop a curriculum that will catch up the students who have suffered during remote learning. We have to use the resources outside of PPS and modify what we're doing within PPS to help the students catch up.
Q: How can you as a board member support increased literacy? What specific programs would you support/ advocate for?
A: The first step that has to be taken, is that we have to teach children how to read using the most scientifically advanced and data supported methods of how the brain works when it is trying to learn how to read. The method that we are using now uses some bits and pieces of that advanced science, but it doesn't embrace it as a whole. A lot has been learned in the last ten years about the science of reading and the science of teaching children how to read, but we have not incorporated that science into our curriculum. That would be my primary focus in curriculum modification.
Q: Will you ensure that non-Christian Students are allowed the same time off from school for major religious/cultural dates such as Yom Kippur/Rosh Ha’Shanah/Passover, Eid, Diwali, etc.
A: Absolutely. It should not just be limited to religious holidays. The Board has to modify its curriculum and activities to accommodate a robust acknowledgement of cultural legacies, holidays, and practices that are based on the major cultural groups that comprise Pittsburgh Public Schools families. In addition to that, we have to develop a curriculum that provides a solid under girding of cultural histories of not just students of color, but of American history as well. You really cannot honestly tell the story of American history unless you also incorporate the histories of communities of color: African-Americans, Latinx, the indigenous population, Asian American and Pacific Islanders. All of these communities have contributed to the success of the American democratic experience, and that needs to be reflected in our holidays, our education, our personnel throughout the culture of PPS.
Q: The Jewish community is concerned with rising Antisemitism and a record-low baseline education about the Holocaust; what will you do to ensure that these issues are adequately taught in school?
A: Based upon my insistence during my first term on the school board, the administration appointed a task force to provide the Superintendent with recommendations to modify and improve the curriculum of the District. The task force has appointed several administrators to that task force. I am a member of that task force, and I expect those recommendations to be presented to the administration and school board very soon (probably by the end of April or end of May).
Q: Locally - and nationwide - enrollment numbers in early childhood programs and kindergarten are down due to the pandemic. As a school board member, how will you provide leadership and support for enrollment in district early childhood programs and kindergarten? How can the district provide support for increased outreach and engagement to Pittsburgh families with young children?
A: I believe enrollment is down not just because of the pandemic, but because we have not provided an educational product that attracts enough students to increase the enrollment. I think we have to start at pregnancy to start training and helping young mothers to help them get fully engaged in their children's education. We have to be a partner with parents from birth through pre-school and support their children's emotional and educational development. The curricula in public education in the first few years of school focuses on teaching children how to read. Reading to learn happens after the third grade. Learning to read begins in pre-school and goes on up and through through third grade. So we have to focus on a strong foundation of learning to read so that when the materials and school curriculum shifts and pivots to reading to learn, our children are able to do that. If we are able to do that, we will also solve the problem of charter schools and private schools because parents are making those choices because they are not confident that Pittsburgh Public Schools curriculum and offerings provide a quality education.
Q: What role do you think high-quality early learning plays in providing the educational foundation for children to succeed? As a school board director and local leader, how will you work with state elected officials and other leaders to ensure more children continue to receive access to pre-k?
A: Unfortunately, our current approach to public education begins when our children arrive at our facilities: that's way too late. We have to begin engaging parents and the community at a very early age. I say birth to pre-k. Those are developmentally important years, and because the school district isn't funded to provide that kind of community outreach, before kids get to pre-k, we tend to ignore the developmental needs prior to Pre-K. I think that it has to start at birth, and their development needs to be supported throughout the community whether or not the students are part of our school system.
Q: The 2020 A+ Schools Report to the Community highlighted the joyful learning happening in PPS early childhood education programs. The article focused on the importance of a whole child approach including play-based learning and social and emotional development. How will you support educators and administrators to implement developmentally appropriate, play-based learning in school reopening plans? Additionally, what considerations do you feel need to be made in supporting the mental health, social-emotional development, and physical activity of students during remote learning and as they return to school?
A: I believe that the agencies and organizations that are currently providing early education services need to be incorporated into the culture of PPS. We need to learn what is working well from these service providers. We need to collaborate with them in incorporating their best practices in Pittsburgh Public Schools. We are returning to school as we speak. I am optimistic that we will have a safe and effective reopening of the schools. Students and families are anxious to get back to school. Teachers are anxious to get back to teaching in person. But, we also have to be anxious about catching kids up, especially the ones who fell behind during remote learning. I'm also worried about 11th and 12th graders who were planning to go to college in the fall. I'm not sure that the learning loss and other kinds of losses has given them the kind of support that they need to move forward (whether that's 12th grade or universities). We have to be fully engaged even with the students who graduate and as they enter the next phase of their careers whether its university, workforce or military. We need to continue to support them for another year or two to make sure they make a successful transition.
Q: How can the Board be more transparent with COVID and schools reopening?
A: The board was hesitantly transparent when things started because we were caught so flatfooted at the beginning of the pandemic. I think the board has become more transparent, but it needs to be more expert at sharing data on its website. We need a dashboard that better explains how we are preparing our return to reopen schools and how parents and community stakeholders can be involved. We need to do a better job of communicating information. If the pandemic goes sideways and schools are required to cut back then community needs to know what are the circumstances that would cause a school, or a group of schools, or the whole system to revert back to remote learning. The health and safety of the children comes first. But the community has to understand exactly what the conditions are that would require us to make a change. We can do that by putting the information in a dashboard on the website and helping the community to learn how to access that information and continue the education of their children.