Despite school closings, layoffs, an expired contract and the challenge of adjusting to new programs, teachers are committed to helping Pittsburgh Public Schools meet ambitious goals for increasing student achievement.

That's the message from Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President John Tarka, who said he's proud of how his members performed during the hectic first year of Superintendent Mark Roosevelt's improvement campaign.

"Teachers feel a real sense of accountability," Mr. Tarka said.

However, Mr. Tarka cautioned that Mr. Roosevelt is more likely to meet his achievement goals if he remembers to give teachers input into decision-making, improves the quality of principals in some schools and brings discipline problems under control.

"We don't want to lose a child who has discipline problems, but we don't want that child impacting the learning environment in a way that other children are penalized," Mr. Tarka said.

About three weeks ago, Mr. Roosevelt gave school board members a report on the second year of his administration, saying "it is likely that we are at the most vulnerable point in our reform efforts" and urging the board to stay the course.

During interviews last week, Mr. Tarka offered his thoughts on the state of the district, saying that teachers will stay the course, too, but they expect to be treated as partners in the process.

While many principals are good at their jobs, Mr. Tarka said, some manage through intimidation.

"That doesn't mean people can't be demanding," he said. "But they have to be fair. They have to be sensible. ... A leader gives respect and generates loyalty."

Mr. Roosevelt said he's well aware of Mr. Tarka's concerns. Mr. Tarka was pressing Mr. Roosevelt about school safety and principals even before he moved from New Mexico to Pittsburgh to take the superintendent's job nearly two years ago.

Mr. Tarka and Mr. Roosevelt have remained on cordial terms during the superintendent's efforts to overhaul the district, a challenge given the impact on union members. The PFT represents 2,922 teachers and other professional employees, 624 paraprofessionals, and 40 technical and clerical personnel.

Mr. Roosevelt closed 22 schools a year ago, forcing about 700 teachers to different schools. The district furloughed 82 teachers and other professional employees in August, though most were called back during the school year because of retirements or other vacancies, Mr. Tarka said.

Teachers also had to introduce new curricula and programs designed to boost achievement. In some cases, they had little time to familiarize themselves with the material before teaching it.

Because of continued enrollment decline and financial problems, the district plans to eliminate 131 teaching positions for 2007-08. Because of vacancies, though, it's unclear how many employees would be affected.

Meanwhile, the district's contract with all three PFT bargaining units expired June 30.

Last week, in a letter to union members posted on the PFT's Web site, Mr. Tarka said negotiators for the two sides had "exchanged and discussed" proposals on a variety of issues and had "very significant differences" on compensation.

Mr. Tarka called Mr. Roosevelt's achievement goals "daunting" but said union members will work to achieve them. Those goals include boosting math and reading scores overall, narrowing the racial achievement gap and boosting the number of minority students in advanced courses.

"Certainly, teachers recognize that work -- hard work -- has to be done and is being done to see how we can make children learn better," Mr. Tarka said.

Mr. Tarka said teachers believe some of Mr. Roosevelt's initiatives need to be tweaked. He said teacher morale next school year will be determined, in part, by how much tweaking the district is willing to do.

Eight accelerated learning academies opened last school year with the America's Choice instructional program, which used "rituals and routines" to guide student behavior in the classroom. Mr. Tarka said similar rituals should be implemented to guide student behavior throughout the school, wherever discipline problems occur.

Teachers had various complaints about the first batch of courses for the new middle-grade and high-school curriculum provided by Kaplan K-12 Learning Services -- problems some believe could have been avoided if teachers had been given input before the last school year began.

Citing a gap between educational research and the reality of the classroom, Mr. Tarka said, "It's important the school district listen to practitioners and not just researchers and consultants." The district this summer began recruiting teachers and academic coaches to revise the courses introduced last school year and write those yet to be introduced.

Mr. Tarka and Mr. Roosevelt agree that achievement goals won't be met unless schools are safer and more orderly. For that reason, the union didn't object to creation of an alternative school, even though it generally opposes privatization of school services.

Under a three-year, $5.7 million annual contract with the district, Community Education Partners of Nashville will operate the 432-student school in the former Clayton Elementary building in Perry Hilltop. Mr. Tarka said the PFT intends to organize the employees into a new bargaining unit.

Mr. Tarka said teachers also want to help stem the years-long decline in the district's enrollment.

In the spring, the union ran television ads and billboards promoting teachers and the school district. Also, the union made the first contribution -- $10,000 -- to the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program that Mr. Roosevelt and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl established in December. One aim of the program is to entice families to the city and retain those already here.

Mr. Roosevelt called Mr. Tarka a strong advocate for teachers but also a person who understands where the district needs to go. Mr. Roosevelt said he felt "very laudatory" about how most teachers performed last school year.