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Superintendent finalist pledges to learn, then act
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Pamela Brown
By Denise Dick
By DENISE DICK
YOUNGSTOWN
If selected as the next city schools superintendent, Pamela Brown says she’ll spend her first 90 days learning more about the district, meeting with students and getting out into the community.
She would spend her first two weeks learning about the district and how its children are progressing.
“The next six weeks, I would go out into the community,” Brown told the crowd of about 90 people Wednesday night at Choffin Career and Technical Center. “It would be an opportunity for you to talk to me about what’s happening in Youngstown.”
After listening to various groups, Brown said she would update those community groups on plans for improvement for the district.
Brown, an assistant superintendent in the Philadelphia School District, has a doctorate in education and previously worked in administration at schools in Richmond, Va., Charlotte, N.C., and Phoenix.
The Philadelphia school district has 165,000 students in 271 schools. Youngstown has nearly 7,000 students.
Brown is one of five finalists for the city school superintendent job. Wendy Webb is retiring at year’s end.
Brown spoke during a community forum where members of the public could ask questions.
In the area of the Philadelphia School District where she recently served, the percentage of schools that met Adequate Yearly Progress targets rose from 59 percent to 69 percent within one school year, according to Brown’s biography.
To deal with low attendance, Brown formed a city-wide student leadership group with representatives from all of the district’s high schools. That group initiated a marketing campaign, including posters on city buses urging students to go to school.
“Last week, we celebrated improved attendance in the high schools and an additional 40 schools made [adequate yearly progress],” she said.
Brown said that while she recognizes that parents are a child’s first teachers, what drives student achievement is primarily what happens in school.
“I wouldn’t use the lack of parent engagement or lack of community involvement as an excuse for our children not being able to achieve.”
To address low student achievement in reading, Brown started a results-based reading program, offering students who read below grade level 45 minutes per day of direct reading instruction.
By recruiting students to attend summer school, the Philadelphia district drew 50,000 students compared to 17,000 the previous year, she said.
At the conclusion of that summer school, 700 students graduated.
When asked why she would want to come to the city, Brown said it’s about the children.
“My dream, my aspiration is to be the superintendent of an urban school district,” Brown said. “I’m not looking to go to a district that is already high-performing. I want to be in a district where I can make a difference for children.”
She said she pursued a career in education because she loves children.
Three finalists for the superintendent job remain, with community forums set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and next Wednesday.