Pittsburgh Public Schools

A program meant to diversify the ranks of teachers at the Pittsburgh Public Schools could soon be re-launched. The program was postponed in October after issues surfaced with the partner university selected by the district.

The Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program will employ what it calls “Promise Coaches” next fall in three Pittsburgh Public high schools in an effort to increase the number of students who are eligible for and take advantage of the post-secondary funding program.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board will have to meet later this month to determine how it will fund a budget it approved Wednesday night.

During a more than two-hour meeting, the board approved a $665.6 million budget, in a 5-4 vote. That budget included funding from a proposed 2.3 percent property tax increase. But in a separate vote, the property tax increase failed 4-4.

For the first time in five years, the Pittsburgh Public Schools administration has recommended the board increase its property tax rate as the district faces an operating deficit of $27.3 million.

Michelle Figlar with the Heinz Endowments says she wants schools to serve multiple purposes. She envisions them as community centers to help families before their kids even enter kindergarten.

At a city budget address Tuesday Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he thinks the state should take over the city school district’s finances. 

Academic achievement gaps are persistent in Pittsburgh Public Schools, according to an annual report released Monday by education advocacy group A+ Schools.

Pittsburgh Public School officials say it’s clear that student zip codes often define the type of education they receive.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools district postponed a program that was intended to train current employees of color to be teachers after rescinding the collaboration with the university that was going to instruct those educators.

Under Superintendent Anthony Hamlet, district travel has increased by 179 percent, or an average of $24,250 a month, according to findings from the Pennsylvania Auditor General.

Pittsburgh Public Schools will introduce a new student assessment tool this year, which officials say will cut down on the total time children spend taking standardized tests. The Measure of Academic Progress, or MAP Growth tool, from the Northwest Evaluation Association, is an adaptive test: every student starts out with an average difficulty question.

Shortly after the sun rose on Tuesday morning, Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Anthony Hamlet boarded a school bus on the South Side. 

The solicitor for the Pittsburgh Public Schools district is investigating claims made in a KDKA news story that implies district administrators took an all-expenses paid trip to Cuba last month without the board’s approval and in violation of its gifts policy.

Nine candidates vying for four seats on the Pittsburgh Public Schools board mostly agree on what the biggest issues are facing the state's second largest school district. The biggest differences are in how they might go about addressing them.

Investigators hired by the Pittsburgh Public School District say there isn’t enough evidence to determine who signed the name of board representative Kevin Carter on a letter attempting to lure Amazon's HQ2 to Pittsburgh.

School officials in Pittsburgh say a kindergartener was found with a handgun on a school bus.

Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman Ebony Pugh says the gun was found in the student's backpack Monday after school was dismissed. The student attends the Pittsburgh Faison K-5 school.

Pugh says another student alerted the bus driver to the weapon, and the gun was removed without incident. She says parents were notified via the district's phone system.

An investigation continues two months after a Pittsburgh Public Schools board member said his signature was forged on an official letter in support of bringing Amazon’s second headquarters to the city. 

A practice developed in the justice system has proven to be successful in Pittsburgh's public schools.  

Monte Robinson spent the last few months helping school leaders figure out what their students need.

Schools officials in Pittsburgh say a teacher has been hospitalized after a student pushed her and caused her to hit her head.

Pittsburgh Public Schools board representative Kevin Carter says he did not sign a letter of support for Amazon’s HQ2 that bears his signature. And the solicitor for the school district, whose office procured that letter, says an investigation will begin immediately.