Report highlights continued inequities, challenges faced by Pittsburgh Public Schools — and many bright spots

The Pittsburgh Public Schools has a new superintendent and is rebuilding from the uncertainty of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But many of the district’s old problems remain, from widespread chronic absenteeism and lackluster student outcomes to opportunity gaps and segregated schools.

The 2022 annual “Report to the Community” released Monday by the education advocacy group A+ Schools chronicles the challenges the district faces in the hope that the community can use the research to identify and address key issues.

“Whatever that solution may be, we have to identify collectively, we have to take action on it collectively,” said Sarah Silverman, A+ Schools board chair. “The only way we can really hope to make progress in terms of student outcomes, in terms of systems improvement, is if we put our heads together, pay attention to this data.”

The report said multiple times that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated long existing problems in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. But James Fogarty, executive director of A+ Schools, said the organization has partnered with many community groups to find solutions.

One of the biggest problems the report identifies is the growing number of students who were chronically absent, meaning they missed 10% or more school days. Chronic absenteeism in the city schools boomed from 27% of students in the 2019-20 school year to 42% in 2021-22.

The number of students in COVID-19 quarantine were believed to be the major reason for the increase, with transportation difficulties and housing insecurity contributing to the issue. In response, A+ Schools partnered with the district and Everyday Labs, a group that fights chronic absenteeism, to send letters and text messages to families that have children at risk of missing 10% or more days this school year.

“We’re communicating in a targeted way about chronic absenteeism, in a way that researchers at Harvard have shown nudge families to get students to school to reduce chronic absenteeism by 10% to 15 %,” Fogarty said.

The work goes beyond notifying families, however.

Fogarty said A+ Schools tries to identify challenges faced by individual families and looks for ways to help using resources provided by community groups. For example, the Brashear Association bought two vans to help transport students who were in need of a ride to Arlington Elementary School.

“For one child, we know they didn’t have a pair of shoes,” Fogarty said. “So our partner, Brashear Association, got $25, went and got some new shoes for this child so that he would get to school.”

The report noted other issues as well, such as near universal declines in PSSA scores from the 2018-19 school year to 2020-21, a more than 3,200-student decline in enrollment between 2017-18 and 2020-21, schools that are not funded equitably.

But there were also numerous “bright spots,” the report said. According to the report, the district is well funded, most students feel safe and loved at their schools, and teacher turnover is low.

The report said that teacher stability — only 28 teachers were new to their buildings in the 2020-21 school year — may be attributed to the higher educator salaries than offered in other districts. The median salary for an educator in the district is about $99,000 per year, according to the report.

Although he acknowledged the more positive findings in the report, Superintendent Wayne Walters said the district owns its inequities, and the administration and board are working on goals to help solve the challenges that it identified.

The goals include investing in culturally responsive, evidence-based training, tools and instructional practices; constructing safety, health and wellness protocols; expanding stakeholder communication and partnerships; designing effective organizational systems; and strategically allocating resources to ensure equity, excellence and efficiency.

“Implementation of these priorities will involve a period of inquiry, which gathers the input of all stakeholders,” Walters said. “The conclusions that emerge from this inquiry will push and inform the development of a new strategic plan to solve all challenges with student experiences and outcomes. So together, together, together, with a solutions-focused approach, we can develop a plan that ensures all students, regardless of ZIP code, receive the high-quality, robust educational experience they deserve.”