If Mark Roosevelt leaves Pittsburgh Public Schools... (Thompson: college, closing)

[lifepgh2op]

Roosevelt evasive on job status - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

I just wondered how people feel about this. Do you want him to stay? Or should we hope for change? I feel like he's taken the district on the road to positive since he has taken over. The article highlights some of the positive changes he's made. What do others think? Especially people who have children in the district...

[BrianTH]

He is resigning, according to this article:

Pittsburgh school head resigning, taking college post

I don't have a kid in the PPS, but I have been following them (in part because we thought we might move into Pittsburgh at some point). I would agree that in general the district has done a lot of good things under Roosevelt--not always popular, but a major restructuring was required, and they have been pretty good about getting outside funding of various sorts to help out. That said, I'm not sure Roosevelt in particular is indispensable, and sooner or later they would have to live without him.

[Tinare]

Bummer. I live in the city, but have no kids, so I've only marginally followed his tenure. Just from that view, it seemed like some good things were happening under his leadership and I hope that continues.

But Antioch College would be an interesting challenge for him, I'm sure. I could see where that would be hard to turn down.

[robrobrob]

I think this is a huge loss for PPS. The reason for this is that Roosevelt was able to make polictically unpopular, but necessary, things happen because the school board and the city believed in him. I don't think anyone had faith in John Thompson.

[Little Mizz Pittsburgh]

Great. Mess up our schools. Leave them in chaos, then leave. And we all know, who is 95% affected by these changes he's made, but I won't go there. Not today.

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by Little Mizz Pittsburgh

Great. Mess up our schools. Leave them in chaos, then leave. And we all know, who is 95% affected by these changes he's made, but I won't go there. Not today.

Thanks for responding!

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I think this is a huge loss for PPS. The reason for this is that Roosevelt was able to make polictically unpopular, but necessary, things happen because the school board and the city believed in him. I don't think anyone had faith in John Thompson.

Let's be honest. Thompson had to come in and start doing the dirty work (closing a large number of schools) that was badly needed. Roosevelt continued the process, but because people had become adjusted to the idea of school closings, he didn't have to take as much grief.

Let's get Michelle Rhee up here, as it seems she's going to get the boot down in DC since Adrian Fenty was voted out.

[BrianTH]

Rhee would be a good choice, and I believe she is from Toledo, Ohio, so this would be splitting the difference.

[caroline2]

Rhee would be so awesome, but with the momentum and name-recognition she has going now, we might as well wish for Jesus Christ himself. My guess is that once she's fired, she'll take a high-profile job in the Obama administration.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by caroline2

My guess is that once she's fired, she'll take a high-profile job in the Obama administration.

That's probably a good guess.

But fortunately, I also don't think Pittsburgh needs a person with Rhee's high profile (although it wouldn't hurt)--just someone as ruthless about restructuring.