City schools try to land lucrative aid from Gates
Share with others:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may make the Pittsburgh Public Schools one of a handful of districts involved in the philanthropy's new, $500 million campaign to cultivate better teachers.
The Seattle-based foundation, an influential voice in education policy, has asked the school district to submit a proposal for making improvements in such areas as teacher recruitment, training, induction and evaluation.
If Gates approves the proposal, Pittsburgh would be one of a small group of districts involved in the initiative long-term, district Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said.
An association with the foundation, established by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda, is prestigious. The district never has received assistance from it.
Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President John Tarka, school board President Theresa Colaizzi, Chief of Staff Lisa Fischetti, Chief Academic Officer Jerri Lippert and Linda Lane, deputy superintendent for instruction, assessment and accountability, will fly to Atlanta today for two days of meetings with Gates representatives.
Also present will be officials from other districts being considered for the initiative.
The number under consideration wasn't clear, but the list includes districts in Palm Beach County, Fla., and Tulsa, Okla.
As part of the early vetting process, Gates representatives visited Pittsburgh in February to tour a school and meet with principals, Mr. Tarka and senior district officials.
Gates spokesman Chris Williams declined to discuss the new teacher-effectiveness initiative yesterday. However, Vicki Phillips, the foundation's U.S. education director and a former Pennsylvania education secretary, offered details at a Nov. 11 education policy forum.
"Over the next five years, we will work with a handful of urban districts and their unions -- as well as networks of charter schools -- that are willing to try to define what it means to be an effective teacher; to figure out how to identify, develop, evaluate and reward those teachers; and, yes, how to get ineffective teachers out of the classroom," she said.
Dr. Phillips said Gates would work with the districts "to find ways to reward teachers who meet more rigorous standards for tenure, and ensure that there are incentives for effective teachers who choose to work in high-need schools."
She said the foundation also would fund "intermediaries" to work with the districts "to ensure an adequate supply of new teachers. And we will work with those partners to see if increasing the number of highly effective teachers in a school district produces comparable changes in student learning."
Dr. Phillips said the foundation's investment in the campaign would be $500 million.
The foundation approached districts it considered prospects for the program, and the Atlanta meetings are designed to help districts craft proposals in line with the Gates vision.
Pittsburgh officials declined to assess their chances of making the final cut.
But Mr. Roosevelt said union-district cooperation and the district's commitment to improvement were key to attracting the foundation's attention.
In the past 31/2 years, the district has implemented new curricula and launched a principal-training program. Also, even before the Gates opportunity arose, the district was revamping its process for evaluating teachers.
"Our current system doesn't really foster professional growth," Dr. Lippert said, noting teachers who receive unsatisfactory ratings receive "intensive support" while those rated satisfactory receive little or no feedback.
The push for teacher effectiveness represents a shift in Gates' priorities.
In the past nine years, the foundation has given more than $2 billion in grants to improve high schools nationwide. Despite the investment, many schools didn't improve, Mr. Gates said in an open letter posted on the foundation Web site.
"So our new strategy focuses on learning why some teachers are so much more effective than others and how best practices can be spread throughout the education system so that the average quality goes up," he said.
John Deasy, deputy director of the foundation's U.S. education program, visited Pittsburgh in January to speak at a training session for district staff. Mr. Roosevelt said that visit was unrelated to the current funding opportunity.
First Published April 22, 2009 12:00 am
