District 9- Gene Walker
Q: Are you in favor of raising property taxes? Why or why not?
A: I am currently not in favor of raising property taxes for two reasons:1. We are still working through the financial impact of the pandemic and I don’t think this is the right time to burden people already struggling with more taxes. 2. I do not believe that more money solves the financial problems of the district without a change in spending habits. I believe it is time for the district to make some hard choices about their spending and develop a plan that first brings spending back into a sustainable place before asking the public to put more tax dollars into the system.
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 answer to this problem begins with identifying the priorities of the district and ensuring that the budget reflects those priorities. We are currently spending more than $100 million more today than we were just 10-12 years ago with 7000 less students. The near-term answer is to balance the budget by making tough decisions that prioritize outcomes for our students. The long-term answer is to determine why so many families choose to send their students elsewhere, and develop a strategy and create a school system that meets the needs of students and families and draws people back to the district.
Q: Do you think Pittsburgh Public Schools current physical footprint matches the needs of the students we serve? Why or why not?
A: It is not a secret that we have more building capacity than demand right now. Our enrollment has been steadily declining for years. Where I believe we need to focus is not on the number of buildings but the equitable accessibility of educational and scholastic opportunities. Any decision regarding our buildings has to first pass through the filter of how that decision affects students and communities.
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: Students are the best source for information about their needs. Students deserve to have a voice in the arc of their education. Having the panel is not enough, though. The Superintendent must also be ready and willing to put that information into action for the betterment of their educational outcomes. As a Board Director, I would work to increase the impact of student voice by providing consistent opportunities for students in my district to share their concerns and ideas. I would then take those voices with me to the Board room to ensure our students’ voices are being heard.
Q: What are your top 3 priorities to improve the district?
A: My top three priorities to improve the district are: 1. Creating budget accountability and prioritization so that our spending aligns with our promises to the public. 2. Creating partnerships to ensure equitable access to technology and resources (equipment, internet, and AP/CAS classes). 3. Reducing principal turnover and recruiting and retaining more diverse teachers, including a priority on local talent.
Q: What are 3 things you think the district is doing well and how will you support those initiatives?
A: These are three areas where I believe the district is doing well: 1. Availability of diverse advanced learning opportunities (AP and CAS). I would seek to build on this by working to increase the equitable access for all students to these opportunities. Students should have equitable access to AP and CAS options at each school. 2. Availability of high-level career and technical education. I would seek to ensure that students have knowledge of and access to the many career and technical education opportunities available. College and technical education should be a path offered to all students, but we should also educate students about careers like HVAC, Nursing, Auto Body, Engineering, Culinary, etc. 3. Promoting post-secondary readiness. I would seek to strengthen partnerships with organizations like The Pittsburgh Promise and trade union training organizations to promote post-secondary studies, whether those studies are at a traditional college, university or similar trade and skills school. We need to reinvigorate our students to dream big and work hard, and provide students with every opportunity to achieve those dreams.
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: Recruiting, hiring, and retaining a diverse teacher workforce must be a priority of the district. This issue is not solved overnight and requires long-term dedication and strategic decision making. We can start by putting the necessary resources into the teaching magnet program and recruiting diverse students to enroll. Black and brown students need to see teachers that look like them to help inspire them to pursue teaching as an achievable and rewarding career path. This will take time, intentionality, and partnering with our teachers’ union to implement more robust teacher evaluation criteria.
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: I believe that communities should have a vested interest in the ownership of their schools. Schools are a resource that have value beyond the traditional school year because they provide space for before and after-school programming, summer learning opportunities, and community engagement activities. I support any legislation or initiative that strengthens schools as anchor institutions for our neighborhoods and results in better outcomes for our students and families. To fund these projects, we do not need to reinvent the wheel. We should follow the data, learn from, and collaborate with cities like Cincinnati that have created successful community school models.
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: It is vital that we as a district can communicate effectively with all of our students and families. It is our responsibility to find ways to reach our most vulnerable students, especially those with limited or no English proficiency. Pittsburgh has a wealth of talent in the form of our many colleges and universities. I would advocate for building partnerships with those language departments to help create outreach materials, and provide interpreters and tutors to increase English proficiency for our ESL community.
Q: In general how do you think the district has handled the COVID-19 pandemic?
A: I believe that the district has done a below average job dealing with Covid-19. I supported the early closure of schools to help slow the spread and keep our students and teachers safe. But as the pandemic went on, district leadership did not do a good enough job communicating with families and educators, equipping and training teachers for online instruction, proposing creative approaches to learning, or partnering with other stakeholders to ensure our most vulnerable learners were able to access instruction. While many districts around us acted swiftly to do things like build Covid-19 data dashboards into their websites and provide weekly email updates to the entire district on building readiness and technology planning, our leadership was often silent. There was little transparency about how they were using data to inform their reopening plans. When the data and science showed that early elementary schools were among the safest places to be with minimal spread, we were slow to adapt and respond, and last minute decisions and spotty communications caused severe stress for families and teachers trying to make plans. My main concern is not with the decision to stay closed, but with the lack of coherent planning and creative problem-solving. We did not seem to talk to other districts in the region who opened much earlier to learn what was working and what was not. Even within our own district, there appeared to be very little support provided to encourage collaboration between schools to share what was working with virtual learning, and what was not. At minimum, based on the CDC guidelines, I believe we missed an opportunity to reopen safely using the current hybrid model and as a result, widened the educational disparities that already existed in our communities.
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 believe the Superintendent and his staff must create a comprehensive plan to help students catch up on what was lost over the last year. The instruction over the last 12-18 weeks has improved, but it is not enough. There should be efforts to partner with afterschool and summer youth programs to integrate learning opportunities with curriculum provided by the district that targets the students most in need. The district already has a summer school format, but I would like to see them expand their reach by going to the communities with our most vulnerable students and providing the much-needed personal instruction that is needed.
Q: How can you as a board member support increased literacy? What specific programs would you support/ advocate for?
A: Literacy is the foundation to a successful education, and I believe we do a good job putting an emphasis on literacy in the early stages of a student’s education, but we must do more. Literacy should be a continued focus throughout a student’s time at PPS, and we should be intentional in finding the necessary resources to ensure that our students do not fall behind. This can include allowing flexibility for teachers to use culturally relevant and timely material to engage students in reading, debate, and understanding of complex issues. I would advocate for partnerships with the local libraries and the many literacy programs that we have in Pittsburgh to engage our students early to promote a love for and proficiency in reading.
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: Inclusiveness is critical to a successful school system and I was pleased to see that we have afforded our Muslim students similar days off for their religious observances that our Christian and Jewish students have long received. Every student should feel empowered to observe their personal religious holidays. With the recent addition, the district has a comprehensive schedule that addresses many of the observed holidays and provides time off for all students regardless of religion.
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: There is no doubt that Antisemitism is on the rise and continues to be a serious problem. Strong educational institutions teach the history that we are proud of along with the history that we wish to never repeat. The Holocaust, the 400 years of Black enslavement, the Native American genocide, and the treatment of the AAPI and LGBTQIA+ communities should all be taught in a culturally responsible way for the benefit of all our students’ learning and development. I would support partnering with outside organizations and our local colleges and universities to develop a curriculum or teaching series that focuses on these different groups and the history that formed their American stories.
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: One effect of the pandemic that is not talked about enough is the burden that it put on families with young children, especially the impact on working mothers, and even more specifically, Black and brown mothers who were on the frontlines of the pandemic as essential workers. The shutdowns left very few options for families who rely on early childhood programs to work. We should be engaging these families robustly to understand their needs and what barriers have stood in the way of enrolling in our early education programs. We should take this feedback and communicate a clear plan focused on student and teacher safety as well as educational goals. We must help families feel assured that when they leave their child with us, we will keep them safe and nurture them. Next, I think we need a district wide effort to rebuild trust that our school and centers are safe and ready to provide high-quality experiences for their children. We should be partnering with leaders such as City and County Council to promote our early education programs to their constituents, expand funding sources so all children can access early education, and provide assistance with the enrollment process which can be difficult to navigate especially if you are already facing technology, language, or transportation barriers.
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: Like literacy, high-quality early learning opportunities are a foundational piece to a student’s success in school and life. If we can give a young learner an exciting and enjoyable start to their education, I believe we have a higher chance of keeping that student engaged throughout their time in school. As a school board director, one of my top priorities will be to engage and unite leadership across state and local government, public and private business, and the nonprofit space to advocate for the funding needed to provide free high-quality early learning opportunities for our students and families. We must be bold in not just our issues, but in seeking the money needed to make this a reality in Pittsburgh.
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: The 2020 A+ Schools report did a wonderful job highlighting the importance of creating a fun and enjoyable learning experience for children. Our young learners need an educational foundation that builds off of their natural ways of learning. Play-based, problem solving, and critical thinking activities should be at the core of how we build that foundation for our youngest learners. I would advocate for teachers to have the flexibility to be creative and innovative in their curriculum and student engagement. As we continue to implement our reopening plan for our schools, we have to follow CDC guidelines to ensure the safest environment possible. I am concerned about the mental health, social-emotional development, and physical health of all of our students and would push to make social workers and therapists available in all buildings to help deal with the many challenges that our students have faced over the last year.
Q: How can the Board be more transparent with COVID and schools reopening?
A: Communication and transparency go hand in hand--you cannot have one without the other. The Board has an obligation to hold the administration accountable to developing and frequently communicating the evolving approach to safely reopen schools, and to make very clear what data points would necessitate future closings or changes so that there are no surprises for families, teachers and staff. By making clear these pre-established metrics, we remove emotion from decision making and increase transparency with how decisions are being made based on data. Some examples of how to do this include: 1-Placing a Covid-19 data dashboard front and center on the district’s website that shows how many positive cases are currently in the district, how many students or teachers are in quarantine, and from what schools. Many schools have done this, so there is no shortage of models to look to. We have access to a wealth of technology expertise in Pittsburgh to build the tool in a way that is easy and sustainable for the administration to update weekly. 2-The Covid-19 dashboard should make clear when we are approaching numbers that would require buildings to close again. 3-The district should provide frequent communications with families on how learning models are being adapted as Covid-19 cases increase or decrease in our community and as CDC, state and local health department recommendations evolve. Weekly email updates and social media blasts from the Superintendent/School Board Members with a summary of the district’s Covid-19 data for that week would be a great place to start. Again, this is a practice that is already in place in many neighboring districts that we can look to. Board members should get in the practice of sharing these communications out on their own platforms regularly so every household is reached and there is little surprise for families or educators if and when buildings are forced to close again.