PSSA 'opt-out' movement growing

Staff reporter Kari Andren has an article in the Trib, Pennsylvania parents take stand against standardized tests.

As students prepare to take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams this week, a growing number of parents are refusing to let their children take the high-stakes standardized exams aimed at showing which schools are excelling or failing.

We can see the what is at stake with the PSSA scores.  Just ask any administrator at Mt. Lebanon as I mentioned here. PSSAs - No pressure here

The performance on the PSSAs are the primary metrics used by the
Superintendent and Board to evaulate how the principals leadership has impacted student achievement.

With Mt. Lebanon prepping kids for the PSSAs, we can see the pay-off in the Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools. We've moved up to Number 2 in the State.  Evan though it is budget crunch time, jobs are secure and raises are guaranteed.

Ms. Andren had contacted me, in hopes that I could steer her to Mt. Lebanon parents, but none were willing to come forward.

Dr. Timothy Slekar, founder of United Opt Out and Lebo Citizens commenter, did speak with Ms. Andren.

Slekar excluded his son, Luke, from standardized tests three years ago and helped found United Opt Out, a national group that protested standardized testing this weekend in Washington with a sit-in outside the Department of Education and a march to the White House.

A few opt-outs does not impact Mt. Lebanon's scores, but if enough parents opt-out their kids, we will fail to meet AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress.  What does that mean? Read more here Some Children Left Behind or here About making AYP for students with disabilities UPDATED 2x or here Yes, he is very deserving. UPDATED

Parents, make sure your kids get enough sleep this week.  There is quite a bit at stake here.

Yes, he is very deserving. UPDATED

The Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Linda Lane turned down her raise for a second year in a row. So far, she has declined $35,000 in pay.

After the vote, Ms. Lane said that she and the top academic team will forgo pay raises.

The decision comes as the district has made unprecedented teacher furloughs and tackles a budget deficit.

Ms. Lane said the decision is in recognition of the serious fiscal problems the district face and a statement of support "for the district and those who aren't with us. We lost a lot of good folks."

Ms. Lane's contract calls for a raise of $5,000 each year as well as a bonus of $10,000 each year if certain performance goals are met. For 2012, she was eligible for the full $15,000. But for 2013, she was not eligible for the bonus amount because state test scores dropped.

Back to the bubble, our super Super gets raises every year. Dale Ostergaard concluded, "I am also normally conservative when it comes to raises, but I think in this particular case with a single individual Dr. Steinhauer is very deserving."

Yes, he is very deserving. As I commented in my last thread about grinding and a 16 year old girl who was carried off the dance floor and taken to St. Clair and then later to Children's Hosptal because she was drunk, the PG story was the number one emailed story according to the PG.

Just last month, Mt. Lebanon School District was recognized in the PG story, PSSA results come up short in Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park.  Goal number four 4. Student Achievement – The Superintendent will maintain or improve student achievement. We can get another warning label from PA and Timmy will be maintaining student achievement. Yes, he is very deserving, Dale.

The number one superintendent in the state, Dr. Patrick O'Toole voluntarily froze his salary as well as the financial director's salary. Certainly Dale, O'Toole is very deserving.

I guess I shouldn't be so harsh with Dr. Steinhauer. I actually got a response from his office the other day to an email I sent.

Fwd: Your website

From	egillen476 egillen476@aol.com
To	schoolboard schoolboard@mtlsd.net
Cc	TSteinhauer TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net, CBowman CBowman@mtlsd.net

While I never received a response from ANY of the eleven of you, I see that the Board reports were updated and the goals have been posted. Thank you. Why would you remove the existing reports? Would you please include all of the reports for the year?

Still nothing for the Extra Mile Award. If you just cut and paste from
the Board President's Reports, my request is a rather simple one to
fulfill.
Elaine Gillen

-----Original Message-----
From: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To: schoolboard <schoolboard@mtlsd.net>
Cc: TSteinhauer <TSteinhauer@mtlsd.net>; CBowman <CBowman@mtlsd.net>;
EGillen476 <EGillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Wed, Oct 17, 2012 3:56 pm
Subject: Your website

When do you plan to update your website?

Extra Mile Award is from January 2012.
Superintendent Board Reports are from April 2012.
Board President Reports are from March 2012.
Superintendent Goals are from last year?
The agenda for Monday's meeting was finally posted on Monday morning.

Is this Cissy Bowman's responsibility?

Elaine Gillen

Finally, I got a response from an email I sent to the board.
Response from Tim Steinhauer While all hell was breaking loose over grinding at dances, Tim is enjoying his very deserving additional vacation days. Does an automated response from his office satisfy goal number five, Superintendent Performance Goals 2012-2013? Tim is well on his way for an increase next year.
Update October 25, 2012 1:30 PM Timothy Steinhauer's contract is available here. It is from June 8, 2009. It does not reflect his current salary, contract extension or additional vacation days. Article V permits him to undertake consulting work during his vacation days or with prior written approval from the Board. In other words, any time he wants.

About making AYP for students with disabilities UPDATED 2x

During Monday's School Board meeting, Dr. Ron Davis and Dr. Deb Allen made a presentation concerning Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). See Tuesday's blog post, Some Children Left Behind. Since then, I received two articles that the School District should read. One is called Students With Disabilities Can Make AYP. This 117 page booklet is subtitled, "What Every School Leader Should Know."

The other article is titled, Promoting AYP for Students with Disabilities through Planning, Resources and Support. Both articles should be on the Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer's reading list since Mt. Lebanon School District has been issued a warning. In fact, it should be required reading for the assistant superintendents, as well as the school board president who feel that the legislation is ridiculous.

Update September 12, 2012 11:06 PM In today's Almanac, Avalanche of testing looms for Mt. Lebo students (saved in Google Docs)

"I think this is one of the more ridiculous pieces of legislation districts in the Commonwealth must abide by," said board president Jo Posti. "I would challenge legislators to find a district that serves these subgroups better than Mt. Lebanon."

She added that she had spoken with state Rep. Matt Smith (D-Mt. Lebanon) regarding the issue on several occasions, and urged concerned community members to contact elected officials as well.

Contact elected officials, as in elected school board officials, Josephine? Did the School District appeal? Or did they miss the deadline? Does MTLSD ever take responsibility or is it always someone else's fault in Harrisburg?

Update September 13, 2012 12:27 PM Today's PG has a great article written by Molly Born with Mary Niederberger. PSSA results come up short in Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park

Two school districts in the southern suburbs are pointing to positives after disappointing state test score results: Mt. Lebanon for its high school, which failed to make adequate yearly progress, and Bethel Park for the district as a whole, which missed the mark on graduation rates and high school math scores.

Some Children Left Behind

According to Dr. Davis' report last night, MTLSD has been given a warning. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is bipartisan, students with special needs are not meeting their targets. Josephine Posti, Ron Davis, and Tim Steinhauer feel that this legislation is ridiculous. We must have 100% success and that sounds difficult to achieve, they say. Here is part of the presentation made last night. AYP Presentation AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. It turns out that there is an appeal process available, with the deadline being August 7, 2012. 2012 Appeals Process Looks like they missed that. For more information on the AYP, check out the PA Department of Education website.