2022 Report to the Community
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Welcome to the 2022 Report to the Community on Public School Progress in Pittsburgh. This year, we want to encourage you, our readers, to use these data for “light, not heat.” How can this report help us learn about what individual children and families need both in school and out of school to support each student’s success?
If there is one thing we can say with certainty, it’s that in this work, we know the success of all of our children takes more than just one family, one school, one organization, one neighborhood. It takes all of us. One thing we can focus on together is getting children to school. Last year, more than 8,000 children missed at least 18 days out of the school year—three and a half weeks or more. But we can imagine a Pittsburgh where every child is in every school every day.
What would it take to “know” each individual child and the reasons they make it or don’t make it into a school building on a given day? One child might miss school because of an asthma attack caused by the state of their housing. Another might miss school because they’re embarrassed at being behind and it’s easier to skip than to try to catch up. Yet another might miss school because their little brother or sister is home sick, and there is no one else to watch them. We can know this and more about our kids every day.
Image credit: 232 Creative
We have everything we need to succeed by our children. Strong families who want their children to thrive. Well paid teachers who have time to learn and plan with each other in professional learning communities. Community organizations, museums, libraries, and other assets that support children and families after school and in the summer with hands-on learning experiences. And resources that almost no other city has for education, the arts, and healthcare.
Our systems are set up in silos of expertise. We can get out of our silos and work together across the gaps to make sure that a child at Arlington has the winter coat she needs to be able to walk to school, or the Perry student has a caring tutor to help him make up what he lost last year.
We know if we take an approach that respects each individual, focuses on the perfect goal of 100% attendance every day, and works to solve problems in a disciplined way, we can learn to fix the barriers in our systems, and help children succeed. It all starts with being there every day—what we’re calling “chronic presenteeism.”
Every kid. Every school. Every day. Let’s get to work.