Wednesday, September 24, 2003

The best thing about the report just issued by the Mayor's Commission on Public Education is what it represents -- namely, influential people of good will from many segments of the community focusing their attention on the city schools, figuring out what's broken, acknowledging the urgency of fixing the problems and making recommendations toward that end.

Among other things, the commission favors dumping the elected school board in favor of a body appointed by the mayor. It also would give City Council the power to set school taxes.

Which brings us to the worst thing about the report: its timing.

It's hard not to scoff at the notion that the same people who brought the city of Pittsburgh to the brink of bankruptcy should be allowed anywhere near the schools. Indeed, the mayor and City Council make the school board look like a model of planning and efficiency by comparison.

I've been highly critical of the board in recent years for its petty squabbling and parochial politics at the expense of children in the classrooms.

But it still bears noting that the school board bailed out the crossing guards when the city was set to lay them off at the start of the academic year. The school board is also the only body standing between Mayor Tom Murphy and every tax increment financing -- or TIF -- deal his office wants to cut as an inducement for development.

And let's not forget that the school board, despite all its problems, had the fortitude to close 11 schools in late 2000 -- only to have Murphy join with the loyal opposition to reopen three of them.

Now the mayor has his own problems with excess building capacity, and city Councilman Alan Hertzberg is trying to undo the closing of the West End police station.

It's hard to see this cast of characters being any more effective or less political than the elected school board has been.

And yet the report's findings are much too upsetting to be ignored. Its recommendations may not all be exactly right for the current climate, but that doesn't negate their value under other circumstances.

In any case, the report should get public attention focused on some very important issues. The authors have zeroed in on many of the underlying problems with the schools' governance, financing and student performance, and if we turn a blind eye to these things it's at our own peril.

Yes, the schools are working well for some kids, including those in magnet programs, those whose parents know how to navigate the system and have the ability and/or means to fill in any gaps.

That's not nearly enough. We are paying for a first-class educational system for all students, but too many -- mostly low-income and/or African American -- are getting a third-class education. The schools are not the only factor in the achievement gap, but they certainly play an important role.

We also have too many schools that cost too much to operate given the current enrollment and future demographic trends; too many ninth-graders dropping out; and too high a tax rate given the $82 million reserve fund that much of the public probably never even knew existed.

The commission has no faith that the elected school board, some put in office by a tiny voter turnout, can or will address these issues. Appointed school board members, it maintains, would have to have a level of qualification lacking in the current board, and would also have the ability to do what needs to be done.

The state Legislature isn't likely to act with any speed on school governance reform, so if the current board wants to show the commission to be wrong, it had better get started right away. A good jumping off point would be that reserve fund.

The commission recommends cutting property taxes 2 mills immediately and using $8.5 million in the fund for new programs to improve student learning. That, the report says, would leave a sufficient safety cushion while addressing pressing educational needs.

If the commission is wrong about that claim, the board has to make that case to the public in a convincing way. And if the commission is right, the board has to act -- fast.

School insiders may well be hopping mad about the report's extreme level of negativity and minimal acknowledgment of the things they are doing right.

A defensive response would be understandable, but I hope they get over it quickly. There's a lot of work to be done.

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