From the folks at PUMP:
A+ Schools and PUMP believe that the City and the region rely on an excellent public school system in order to prosper. But the school system will only be as good as its leadership demands. Board Watch is an effort to engage and inform the community about school board governance in order to insure that improved student achievement is the number one priority for the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Board Watch is a grassroots effort established by A+ Schools involving volunteers who are trained to observe Pittsburgh Public School Board meetings. All Board Watch volunteers participate in a training session that includes an overview of the state policies that created school boards, the structure and function of our local board and gain knowledge of how to recognize good governance in action. Board Watch volunteers are then asked to observe one school board meeting per month for at least six months.
A+ Schools welcomes all concerned citizens who are residents of the City of Pittsburgh and share our commitment to student achievement and our expectations for effective School Board governance. A+ Schools is working with partner organizations, such as PUMP, to recruit volunteers who reflect the diversity of the city’s population – including racial, socioeconomic, gender and geographic demographics.
If you are interested in learning more about Board Watch and/or in becoming a volunteer please contact A+ Schools (412)258-2660 , info@aplusschools.org, or www.aplusschools.org. Or contact Erin Molchany erin@pump.org for information on PUMP’s collaboration with A+Schools.
While PUMP’s civic engagement activities have not always passed muster with this progressive, this joint effort with A+ Schools is a unique, positive, and engaging approach to local government accountability and transparency. Additionally, it draws attention to elected positions that don’t get much of it; the people in those positions make important decisions, not only about how our children are educated, but also about how our communities develop. This gets an A+ for effort. It will be interesting to see the results.



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