PITTSBURGH — With a new school year underway, Pittsburgh Public Schools is getting real about education and the challenges students bring into the classroom. WPXI’s Jatara McGee sat down with PPS Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters about the year ahead and his vision for the future.
“We have to meet students where they are, but at the same time we have to take them to another level,” said Dr. Walters.
“I mean, we know that people, you know, love their neighborhood schools and we do too. I mean, they have history, they have context, you know, many people can say, ‘Hey, my grandmother went here, my grandfather went here,’” Dr. Walters said.
The reason the district plans to close 12 schools hasn’t been received well by everyone. Still, the student population at PPS has declined 26% in just the last 13 years.
Dr. Walters adds the path to a better future runs through the district’s Future Ready Plan.
“I think if we’re reasonable and rational about the concerns of our school district, not only from the financial space, but from the infrastructure space, you know, I mean, we have about 33 buildings that are not air-conditioned,” Dr. Walters said. “We have some spaces in our district that are just inequitable.”
The massive changes in the district next year are hanging over this one. Still, Dr. Walters wanted to send the message that students and educators need to lock in now. Learning loss has become an ongoing challenge, with thousands of students considered chronically absent last year alone.
When asked what concerned him most about the data, Dr. Walters said, “Education will always be this pendulum of us moving towards continuous improvement in multiple data points. When I started in education several years ago, you know, some of these data points were not even conversations that we were having.”
Dr. Walters added that the reasons students are missing class speak to larger issues — the challenges of families with varying income and dynamics.
“We have students who are homeless. We have students who have food insecurity. We have students who are really dealing with some serious mental health crises,” Dr. Walters explained. “It’s painful to hear, but it’s a reality that we have to receive so that we can respond accordingly.”
Dr. Walters added that understanding that reality is required to be an educator these days. He stressed his staff is committed to supporting the whole child.
“We have to be responsive and supportive and lead with a sense of empathy and grace because you may see the face, but you don’t know what’s behind that mask,” Dr. Walters said.
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