Pittsburgh’s school board reappoints superintendent for 4-year term
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Superintendent Anthony Hamlet will stay on with Pittsburgh Public Schools until June 2025, the school board voted Wednesday.
In a meeting that lasted well over two hours and at times grew contentious, the majority of members spoke out in support of Hamlet.
Initially hired at a salary of $210,000, Hamlet’s current salary is just under $230,000. Hamlet’s new contract and new salary is not yet finalized.
“I want to thank the board for this vote of confidence,” Hamlet said in a statement. “And while the misdirected self-interest of a few attempted to take away from the progress we have made together, we are now able to move forward squarely focused on improving outcomes for our students.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, Sala Udin stood out with the harshest criticism of Hamlet’s progress leading the district. Udin has been an outspoken critic of Hamlet, often taking issue with achievement gaps between white and Black students and claiming the superintendent has not done enough to address them.
“When I look at the record of failure, especially in reading and mathematics for African American students throughout the entire Pittsburgh Public School District, it is abominable,” Udin said. “It is unforgivable. It is inexcusable that we have not found a way to significantly improve the performance scores of Black children in this school district.”
Udin questioned why the board was voting on the contract renewal so soon, when state law gives them until next February . He suggested the board wait until ongoing investigations into Hamlet are completed.
“I think it’s a shame, and if we’re going to renew his contract anyway, I hope that the terms of his new contract will include measurable and quantifiable objectives that require significant improvement in the academic performance of African American students in this school district,” Udin said.
But many other board members said the critiques were “subjective.”
Kevin Carter, of District 8, called Udin’s words “very inappropriate.” The district has seen some progress under Hamlet as test scores gradually rise, Carter said. He argued that student achievement is more a conversation now than ever before.
“To say that everything we’ve done has been a complete failure is a lie,” Carter said.
Carter further argued that a change in leadership would be damaging to the work that has been done, causing employees and officials to start back at square one.
“There are a lot of problems with this district, but we’re not addressing the root,” he said. “We just keep changing the players.”
School Director Cynthia Falls also called for stability in a district that has historically seen high turnover in the superintendent’s position. In the last 30 years or so, Pittsburgh schools have had nine superintendents. Falls, of District 7, reflected on her time serving as a teacher, when she said superintendents would often serve only two or three years at a time. She said she was impressed by the plans and changes Hamlet has been able to put forth.
“You have to be realistic,” she said to Udin. “Some of us lived this. We lived through all of this so we know what didn’t go forward.”
Several members acknowledged that progress in test scores and other equity measures has been incremental — but it’s still progress. Board President Cynthia Wilson named several specific areas of growth, like the hiring of a school nurse for every campus, an increase in social workers and counselors employed by the district, an expansion of career and technical programs and improved graduation rates.
“Change and evolution takes time,” Wilson said. “Dr. Hamlet did not bring his magic wand to accomplish this.”
The vote was preceded by two nights of public hearings, in which the board received more than 100 comments from community members, retired and current teachers and district staff.
Many bashed Hamlet for not improving longstanding problems in the district with achievement gaps and racial equity.
Some argued he shouldn’t be punished for inheriting the existing issues, while others still asked the board to delay the decision and focus on serving students through the pandemic.
Following the board’s vote, Hamlet assured community members that progress would continue for students of color.
“I want to say to those who have shared their concerns regarding the achievement of black and brown students in our district, that I hear you,” he said in a statement. “Yes, we have inevitably lost some of the ground we had made with our students due to the closure of schools this past spring. This will make for a tough road ahead.”
“We will not lose sight of our charge to work against racist ideas and policies that prevent our students from experiencing a bias-free education,” he added.