Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane Thursday officially announced this is her final school year as the leader of the district.
When she signed her last three-year contract, Mrs. Lane, 65, indicated she expected her last day to be when that contract ends, which is June 30, 2016, marking more than five years at the helm.
But that didn’t stop speculation over whether she would stay or leave the $235,000-a-year job.
“I was getting a lot of questions from community people and others: What are you going to do?” she said. “After we got school started, I wanted to put an end to the speculation …”
She said the announcement is timed “to make sure the board had plenty of time to engage in whatever process they choose to engage in.”
School board President Thomas Sumpter said the nine-member board will need to meet to discuss what comes next and that such talks will need to begin before three new board members are sworn in in December. But he said the current board can make the incoming members “aware of the process.”
Mr. Sumpter praised Mrs. Lane’s service, saying, “Some of the programs that have been initiated have greatly benefited students.”
He cited the We Promise program, which helps students improve their school performance to qualify for the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program, as well as a more responsive central office, an emphasis on equity and cultural sensitivity, efforts to improve teacher quality, a focus on making school climates better, and community engagement.
Mrs. Lane joined the district as deputy superintendent in 2007 and became superintendent in January 2011 after superintendent Mark Roosevelt left to become president of Antioch College in Ohio. Born in West Virginia, Mrs. Lane spent much of her life in Iowa, where she rose to become deputy superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools. She earned a doctorate at Drake University.
While she is leaving the district, Mrs. Lane, who lives in Highland Park, said she and her husband, Coleman, plan to stay in Pittsburgh, but she doesn’t plan to retire. “I just like to work. As long as I have the health to do it, I want to do it.”
She said she agreed to write a chapter in a book and might do consulting or teaching but doesn’t have specific plans.
Meanwhile, she plans to put her full effort into leading the district. “I intend to run to the tape. I don’t intend to slide into it,” she said.
In the first four days of school this week, Mrs. Lane visited five schools. “Our job is to see how much we can accomplish before that very last day. I’m really energized about the school year.”
She is interested in continuing work to see that the curriculum is “culturally appropriate and culturally inclusive” as well as engaging.
She noted the start of the programs in STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and math — at three schools this year, including Pittsburgh Woolslair PreK-5 in Bloomfield, where earlier this week she and two second-graders tried to figure out how together they could use one paper clip each to save a gummy worm that had fallen out of a boat.
She told kindergarten parents at Arsenal PreK-5 in Lawrenceville on Thursday that reading by third grade is an important milestone for success at school, something Mrs. Lane and the board have set as a priority.
“I told the principals I have started school every year for 61 years consecutively. I started at age 4 in pre-kindergarten. I have started school every single year since then. I know that this may be the last time I do this. I’m just savoring every minute of it,” Mrs. Lane said.
Mrs. Lane called board members individually and some members of the community to let them know of her decision.
Some reaction from Pittsburgh officials and education groups:
Mayor Bill Peduto today issued a statement saying Mrs. Lane served with “Pittsburgh’s young people with heart, wisdom and conviction,” adding, She has been both a mentor and an inspiration to me on the importance of education. Together we have worked to break down the walls between City Hall and public schools and focused on one agenda for the betterment of Pittsburgh’s children.”
He said her timely notice was “typical of Dr. Lane’s professionalism and care for her students.”
He said his administration stands ready to join other stakeholders to “support the board in a search locally and nationally for a new superintendent.”
Grant Oliphant, president of the Heinz Endowments, issued a statement, saying, “Dr. Lane has done an outstandingly remarkable job often against seemingly insurmountable odds. She has carried the torch of much-needed reform, balancing her quest for excellence with a succession of financial constraints with tenacity and sensitivity. And always she has put our children first.”
He encouraged the board to undertake “a comprehensive national search” for the next superintendent.
In a written statement, Maxwell King, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Foundation, who called a national search a best practice, said, “In the often contentious and complex world of public education reform in Pittsburgh during the past decade, Linda Lane has always been the leader calmly and effectively testing how a policy or process would benefit students in classrooms. Students have always been first on her mind as she walks into work each morning and still on her mind as she leaves — usually well into each evening.”
Patrick Dowd, executive director of Allies for Children, praised Mrs. Lane and urged a national search for the next superintendent.
“We have lots of talent here in Pittsburgh, but the board must go to every length possible and guarantee that our students have the very best superintendent, and that means opening up this search as far and wide as possible,” he said. “The search process must engage the public in the development of the selection criteria. It must also include the formation of a screening committee.”
In a statement released today, A+ Schools, an education advocacy group, expressed “disappointment” that Mrs. Lane won’t seek reappointment and also recommended a national search.
“We know that Pittsburgh needs a visionary leader for our public school system,” said Carey Harris, executive director of A+ Schools. “Whether that person is in our backyard or somewhere a thousand miles away, a good process that casts the net widely, that involves an external screening panel, and includes structure for community input will help the school board find the best person for the job.”
A+ Schools said the Talent City process used by the mayor for hiring was effective and quoted Esther Bush, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, and Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Promise, as favoring a “Talent City like” process.
Quintin Bullock, president of the Community College of Allegheny County, supports that approach, saying “replacing a great leader takes the utmost care, and the board would be well served to utilize an independent community based screening process.”
Education writer Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.
First Published: September 4, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
