Sunday, September 28, 2003

Many people complain about public education but seldom have a chance to do something about it. Today Pittsburgh residents have that opportunity, and whether they seize it will determine the quality of their schools for decades to come.

The Mayor's Commission on Public Education, a diverse and qualified group of citizens, has finally completed its evaluation of the city school system and issued its recommendations. While the results in "Keeping the Promise: The Case for Reform in the Pittsburgh Public Schools" aren't pretty, the prescription offers hope.

In place of a fractured, contentious school board elected by small pockets of voters in geographic districts, it envisions appointed members chosen for their experience, knowledge and broad-gauge view.

In place of an abnormally high surplus in the district's budget -- 17 percent of operating funds -- it calls for a two-mill property tax cut and targeted spending to improve achievement, while still leaving a fund balance of $30 million.

Instead of an excess of school buildings, which can accommodate 30 percent more students than enrolled today, the report sees a consolidation commission with the authority to right-size the number of facilities.

Instead of perennial promises to improve student performance, close the achievement gap over race and income and raise attendance and graduation rates, the commission desires measurable goals that come with annual follow-up reports.

And rather than leave it only to elected, district-based board members to oversee the system, the proposal seeks an independent alliance of committed Pittsburghers who will monitor the pace of reform and apprise the public of success or failure.

Is that too much for taxpayers to ask, too much for teachers to deliver, too much for Pittsburgh children to expect? Certainly not.

The mayor's task force, appointed last year after a season of acrimony on the board and the loss of financial support by three foundations, painted a gloomy picture not only of student performance but also civic engagement. Fifty-four percent of the students can't read at grade level. Sixty-one percent can't do math at grade level. One-quarter of the ninth-graders don't graduate. School board elections are decided by turnouts as small as 7 percent of the registered voters.

If the commission erred anywhere, it was in being overly strident in comparing Pittsburgh's system to a universe of districts where funding is not such an issue and learning is not such a challenge. That is unfair to Pittsburgh's good standing against other urban districts in the country and to innovations like its successful magnet program and the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

But the commission is right to ask why Pittsburgh should settle for less than the parents of children in suburban and rural schools, who, just like their city peers, will leave school, seek jobs and make their way in the world as adults. Why should the city stand for second best?

Fortunately, some of the commission's proposals can be implemented by the current board. And if those who are candidates this year aren't willing to sign on to them, they should be ready to explain why.

The switch to a diverse and qualified board nominated by a citizens' committee and appointed by the mayor, subject to council confirmation, will take a vote of the Legislature. That change may be hard for progressive citizens to swallow, since the incumbent mayor and council haven't had the fortitude to pare excess fire stations. How could they, of all people, deliver a board that would close surplus schools?

But those who want change must take the long view. This mayor and this council shall pass and, with any luck, so will the parochial, divisive attitudes that keep Pittsburgh out of the 21st century.

"Keeping the Promise" is not a report to take lightly. It is not a handbook that deserves dust on a shelf. Pittsburgh needs to embrace it, enact it and make it a tool for quality education -- of all its children.

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