Letter to the editor: Allegheny East NAACP response to Gateway achievement gap

Allegheny East NAACP response to Gateway achievement gap

The NAACP, being the oldest civil rights organization, has long held a firm standing for civil rights in education.

While we at the Allegheny East NAACP applaud any efforts for achievement and equity at the Gateway School District through whatever partnerships that are developed, we must state we are extremely disappointed at the lack of substance that was presented in the presentations on Jan. 30, 2020 in the High School LGI room. Our concerns are — and continue to be — the lack of efforts or hiring practices of the district of any teachers or administrative staff of color, with the African American student population being 25.2% and the Hispanic student population being 4.3%.

Though the district is laying out the achievement gap presentations, it continues to fail to produce solid outcomes relevant to the district-wide data. A pilot of students from third grade does not speak to the substance of closing achievement gaps, and though tutoring may be done on very low participation, that is far from the needed efforts of the district to hire an equity and inclusion director with administrative input. No policy for this “equity enlightenment” is an insult as well.

In the presentations relevant to culture, the issue of what “African Americans” eat was stated as if from a cultural standpoint African Americans are less healthy than other races. We at Allegheny East NAACP ask the question: what does our food have to do with culture responsive pedagogy? Or, what do African American foods like Patti Labelle’s sweet potato pies have to do with closing the achievement gaps? Yet, this question was posed to the group who eats them.

The statement by Assistant Superintendent Chakey, who came into the district as a former assistant principal from Pittsburgh Public Schools, that they have formed “equity teams ” and therefore there is no need for an equity director is clearly an insult to the intelligence of the Gateway community as a whole. The Allegheny East NAACP will look to have independent resources to assist us for truth in numbers and outcomes as it pertains to our minority students, and we hope that the district with a $7 million budget will provide the awesome teachers with the real tools they need to “close the achievement gap.” This entails smaller classrooms, teachers aids throughout the district, better support systems for teachers who are working tirelessly to educate a growing minority population and transit students from other districts.

The Allegheny East NAACP would also like to see how the outgoing of services is a cost-saving to the taxpaying citizens of Gateway, with a student population of 3,342. Yet, we received a part-time consultant in the manner of an equity director which was laughable and a complete set up for failure, with $135,000 of which to date the public was never informed of the cost of this part-time director after his exit or the district’s termination of the contract.

The extension of contracts of two assistant superintendents and the cost to the district and taxpayers though the salaries were not published in board documents. When these extensions were put to the public, other salaries were published in board documents. The Allegheny East NAACP celebrates partnerships and believes they serve a great need for work, especially in education. But our foods in the African American culture are no less healthy than others and this we believe should never be a vehicle of relevance to the achievement of minority students. To bring such a thing is ignorant and insulting. Too much of anything is not good for you.

Kenneth L. Huston

President of Pennsylvania State NAACP