This website is a joint effort of the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT).
Empowering Pittsburgh Teachers: Brought to you by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and the Pittsburgh Public Schools
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Introduction




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On November 18, 2009, the Board of Education voted to accept a $40 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support implementation of work detailed in the District’s Empowering Effective Teachers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools Plan.

The grant was signed by Board President Theresa Colaizzi, Superintendent Mark Roosevelt and Mary Wilson, Vice President for Finance and Administration at the Pittsburgh Foundation.

On November 19, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced approval of $290 million in grants to support four Intensive Partnership for Effective Teaching sites, including Pittsburgh, that have developed groundbreaking plans to improve teacher effectiveness. Another $45 million will go toward the Measures of Effective Teaching project, a research initiative that seeks to define effective teaching and identify fairer and more reliable evaluative measures.

Together, the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT) crafted the Empowering Effective Teachers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools Plan to support and empower effective teaching. It will reward highly-effective teachers with career opportunities and increased compensation, and will ensure a strong teaching and learning environment in every school.

A BOLD VISION

At the heart of the Empowering Effective Teachers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools Plan is a bold vision:

Pittsburgh's teachers will be empowered as effective leaders to do whatever it takes to foster a culture of striving, resilience and college-readiness, so that more than 80 percent of all students will be Promise-Ready and complete a college degree or workforce certification.

Excellent teachers matter. They get kids to far better places. With this grant the District will take giant steps forward to assure that there is a highly-effective teacher in every classroom, every day.

The plan identifies three strategic priorities for improving teaching and learning in all classrooms:
  1. Increase the number of highly-effective teachers.
  2. Increase the exposure of high-need students to highly effective teachers.
  3. Ensure that all teachers work in learning environments that support their ability to be highly effective.
This collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the PFT places the District on the leading edge of a national effort to transform how we are educating and investing in children.

Links to Supporting Documents

» Board Authorizes Acceptance of $40 Million Grant to Support District’s Plan for Empowering Effective Teachers in Pittsburgh Public Schools (Link to news release)

» Intensive Partnership for Effective Teaching Grant Acceptance (Board Resolution)