Big Money Fails to Oust In-Coming Pittsburgh Schools Superintendent
Democracy 1, Oligarchy 0.
That might be the score in the latest contest between corporate education reformers and the Pittsburgh Public School Board.
Special interest groups and the media had stirred up controversy for months over one line in newly hired superintendent Anthony Hamlet’s resume.
Last night the board voted to let the 46-year-old African American start his job as planned Friday morning.
The board voted 7-2 not to cancel his contract. He will be sworn in tomorrow to start a 5-year commitment in the city.
He had been unanimously hired May 18 from the Palm Beach County district in Florida where he had distinguished himself with an excellent record of leadership and enacting authentic reforms.
Though critics cited one line in his resume as too similar to a statement in a Washington Post article, the real reasons for the dispute are ideological.
Put simply, Hamlet favors reforms that have nothing to do with teaching to the test, charter school expansion, closing schools and other market driven policies.
This put him at odds with the usual gang of corporate sycophants:
1) The Campaign for Quality Schools Pittsburgh – a PAC recently formed to Make City Schools Great Again by promoting charter schools and other failed neoliberal reforms.
2) A+ Schools, an advocacy organization that used to champion the same kinds of authentic reforms school directors are trying to enact with Dr. Hamlet’s help. However, after getting a fat check from the Gates Foundation, the group has became Big Money Fails to Oust In-Coming Pittsburgh Schools Superintendent | gadflyonthewallblog: