An ongoing teacher shortage continued to rear its head, transgender rights and book bans dominated storylines in education in Pittsburgh and around Pennsylvania.
Local colleges were thrust into the spotlight among Post-Gazette.com readers in 2023, with keen interest in a debate that spurred a transgender rights protest at Pitt, Penn State plummeting in Forbes’ top colleges rankings and West Virginia axing dozens of majors and over 100 faculty positions.
In K-12 education, the teacher shortage, school boards and book banning, alleged financial misdoings and LGBTQ+ policies piqued readers’ interest.
Here’s a look at the stories that were read by the most readers on Post-Gazette.com in the world of education in 2023.
K-12
2 Western Pa. school districts shifted money around to raise taxes, Pa. auditor general says
Published Jan. 26
Two Western Pennsylvania school districts were among a dozen across the state accused by Pennsylvania’s auditor general of moving money in their budgets to raise taxes above a state limit without voter approval. North Allegheny and Canon-McMillan in Washington County were included in the audit, which looked at finances between 2018 and 2021.
The findings suggest the districts are “strategically transferring and ‘committing’ funds” in order to raise taxes despite having millions of dollars in general fund accounts.
A Beaver County school district is weighing a pronouns policy as LGBTQ student rights are challenged across the nation
Published April 8
At a meeting of the South Side Area School District’s “pronoun committee,” two Christian pastors were asked whether it was true that all people are created equal.
The committee, formed last year, is tasked with researching a potential policy on preferred names and pronouns in the classroom. Four school board members are on the committee. School board President Bernice Woodling did not respond to a request seeking comment. Board members on the committee directed questions to district administration.
The rights of LGBTQ students — and not just the pronouns they are addressed by — continues to be a heated conversation in districts across the country, including in Beaver County.
The issue has rocked communities and become a political stomping ground as Republican lawmakers introduce legislation largely targeting transgender students. On Thursday, both the Biden administration and the Supreme Court weighed in on this contentious issue.
Read more.
Pennsylvania teachers are quitting in big numbers. Here’s why some from the Pittsburgh area left for good.
Published July 9
In Pennsylvania, the number of teachers leaving classrooms has risen to alarming rates. An assessment by the Penn State Center for Education Evaluation & Policy Analysis found that 7.7% of Pennsylvania teachers, or a total of 9,587, left their positions between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.
Read more.
Additional reading: Pennsylvania school districts are hiring teachers with limited experience amid shortage, new report finds
Inside the AP African American Studies class piloted at Allderdice High School that has sparked praise, outrage across the country
Published Nov. 30
Trevor McGlynn shot his hand into the air one day last week while sitting in a third-floor Allderdice High School classroom. The 16-year-old junior was eager to give his take on an 1829 speech calling on slaves to demand their freedom.
His comment kicked off a back and forth between the 22 students in the Advanced Placement African American Studies class, one group of whom read from “Appeal” and another that read from the 1843 “An address to the slaves of the United States” by Henry Highland Garnet, which stated Black people have been in the U.S. for generations so they have a right to stay.
The discussion that took place minutes before the bell rang and class ended, wasn’t a debate between students; rather, it was an analysis of two well-known speeches written by Black men years apart that called for the rebellion of Black people living in America after years of slavery and oppression by their white counterparts.
The speeches were part of an ongoing lesson on radical resistance — or how Black people began pushing back against systems of oppression — taking place in teacher Brian Nolte’s AP African American Studies course last Tuesday, a class that has sparked national attention after some Republicans accused it of being “woke” and indoctrinating students. At least five conservative states are currently limiting its implementation.
New report details 'discriminatory' policies at Pennsylvania religious, private schools
Published Dec. 6
Private and religious schools in Pennsylvania that participate in a multimillion-dollar corporate tax break often have discriminatory policies and statements against LGBTQ+ students, those with disabilities and pregnant people, according to a new report released by a Harrisburg-based nonprofit advocacy group.
The report titled “Pennsylvania Voucher Schools Use Tax Dollars to Advance Discrimination” was compiled by Education Voters of PA, which aims to ensure elected officials implement a pro-public education agenda.
Schools that receive the funding often have policies and statements in their student handbooks, admissions requirements and applications based on LGBTQ+ status, religion, academics, disability, pregnancy or abortion and a school’s determination of whether a student is the “right fit.”
Higher education
Joan Gabel, Pitt’s incoming chancellor, leaves behind a complicated legacy at the University of Minnesota
Published April 9
When the University of Pittsburgh announced that it hired Joan Gabel as its next chancellor, many applauded the move that would bring a highly experienced college leader to Pitt as its first female leader.
But a different kind of celebration also occurred in April at the University of Minnesota, where Ms. Gabel was still president. Her nearly four-year tenure at one of the largest colleges in the country was been marked by both controversies and successes.
In an exclusive interview with the Post-Gazette on the University of Minnesota’s campus, Ms. Gabel addressed some of those troubles and shared her vision for Pitt’s future. The Post-Gazette also spoke with University of Minnesota leaders, students, faculty and alumni about Ms. Gabel’s complicated legacy at the Minneapolis school where she has been described as an out-of-touch leader by some and a compassionate one by others.
Pitt is the second school where Ms. Gabel will shatter the glass ceiling. Ms. Gabel, who has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Haverford College and a law degree from the University of Georgia, was the first woman to serve as president at the University of Minnesota.
A large protest over transgender rights erupted at Pitt during a controversial debate
Published April 18
Protests over two conservative speakers at the University of Pittsburgh prompted the university to issue a public safety emergency as crowds blocked off the area around the O’Hara Student Center and jammed surrounding roadways, spurring a large law enforcement response.
The university issued its public safety alert just after 7:30 p.m. as the debate — “Should transgenderism be regulated by law?” — between Daily Wire commentator Michael Knowles and libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo was about to begin.
Protesters had thrown an “incendiary device” in the direction of officers, prompting the alert. From the debate room, a loud explosive sound was heard.
After the device was thrown, police temporarily detained a “number” of protester. Three police officers were evaluated by medics during the protest, which drew about 175 protesters and dozens of officers from Pitt and the city of Pittsburgh.
These students thought they graduated from Pitt this spring. Turns out, they were missing graduation requirements.
Published June 17
This spring, 27 University of Pittsburgh students in the school’s Combined Accelerated Studies in Education program excitedly walked across a graduation stage, thinking they had earned their bachelor’s degrees.
But nearly two months later, 17 of those students found out that Pitt had withheld their degrees because they didn’t meet graduation requirements. The impacted students say misadvising led them to inaccurately believe the university waived or substituted courses that it hadn’t.
In Forbes ‘top colleges’ ranking, Penn State’s score plummets
Published Sept. 1
Penn State’s placement in Forbes’ annual college rankings has taken a nosedive.
In the media company’s 2023 “top colleges” list, Penn State ranked 408th among private and public schools in the country. That’s an 85-spot drop compared to 2022, when Penn State ranked 323rd, and a 253-spot fall from the 2021 list, when it ranked 155th.
This year’s ranking places Penn State behind all of its Big Ten colleagues, the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University. The Forbes list measures 500 schools based on alumni salaries, debt, graduation rates, the Forbes American Leaders List, return on investment, retention rates and academic success.
West Virginia University axes 28 majors and more than 140 faculty positions
Published Sept. 15
West Virginia University’s board of governors slashed 28 majors and over 140 faculty positions during a meeting, despite outcry from students and professors who say the plan could have a long-term impact on education and economic mobility in the state.
The cuts come as the flagship school attempts to mitigate a $45 million deficit that could swell to $75 million by 2028. Between three and four board members voted against each of the cuts out of 17 total board members.
When board members began voting on the cuts, they were interrupted by dozens of students who flooded the area where the governors were seated. Students — decked out in red as a callback to a 1921 coal miners’ strike — chanted and held signs with sentiments like “Gordon Greed” and “Burn couches not courses,” references to WVU President Gordon Gee and the university’s infamous couch-burning riots that followed football games.
First Published: December 26, 2023, 2:00 p.m.
Updated: December 27, 2023, 10:52 a.m.
