Diane Briars, the Pittsburgh Public Schools' top math and science officer, is back at work after state Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak said other aspects of her career compensated for a lack of classroom teaching experience.

Dr. Briars returned to her $93,000-a-year post Thursday, the day after Dr. Zahorchak granted her a "districtwide supervisory certificate" for curriculum and instruction.

City school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt had put Dr. Briars on paid leave in February while she pursued certification. Dr. Briars, 54, of Fox Chapel, a nationally known math expert who has been with the district for 20 years, had been trying to resolve the issue since July.

At the time, she lacked the required teaching experience and had not passed a required administrators' exam. She passed the exam last fall.

After the state Department of Education twice denied her request for certification, Dr. Briars asked Dr. Zahorchak for reconsideration, saying she met the spirit if not the letter of the law. She said Dr. Zahorchak decided to grant her the certification because educators from around the country had sent letters praising her credentials.

Dr. Briars taught seventh- and eighth-grade math in Evanston, Ill., for less than five years. She's also taught college-level education courses, supervised student teachers, written math curriculum and worked with national math groups, but those kinds of experiences didn't offset the teaching requirement until Dr. Zahorchak weighed in.

Dr. Briars, who yesterday thanked those who wrote letters to Dr. Zahorchak, has been a controversial figure because of her support for the Everyday Math program disliked by some school board members, administrators and parents.

During an interview, she declined to say why she believed certification suddenly became an issue for her last year.

Dr. Briars said district officials didn't mention the issue again until Andrew King, interim superintendent, raised the matter in July. Dr. Briars said she began working to obtain the certification as soon as Dr. King mentioned it and had made little progress by the time Mr. Roosevelt took over the district in August.

Lisa Fischetti, Mr. Roosevelt's chief of staff, said Dr. Briars' position will be eliminated June 30 in a reorganization of central administration. Ms. Fischetti said Dr. Briars has the option of applying for one of the new supervisory positions created by the school board.