School & District Management

Pittsburgh District Wants More Details on New Superintendent’s Résumé

By Denisa R. Superville — June 14, 2016 1 min read
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The Pittsburgh school district has decided to investigate further the résumé of its pick to lead the school system, the Tribune-Review reports.

According to the paper, the school board approved proceeding with an “independent inquiry” into Anthony Hamlet’s résumé after meeting with him in closed session on Monday to discuss claims that it misrepresents the performance of the Palm Beach, Fla., schools where he once served as principal. Other media reported Monday that the board was seeking “additional information” on Hamlet’s résumé.

Since Hamlet was chosen last month to replace longtime superintendent Linda Lane, questions have surfaced in both the Palm Beach Post and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the accuracy of his claims about the improvements that two schools made under his tenure and about his “educational philosophy,” which appear to have been taken without attribution from a 2015 Washington Post editorial, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The papers said that Hamlet’s version of the gains at the schools differed from that of the Florida education department.

For example, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that Hamlet contended in his résumé that the schools moved from F ratings to C ratings during his tenure. But, according to the Florida education department, one of the schools, Palm Beach Lakes High School, had a C rating the year before Hamlet took over as principal and maintained that rating while he was in charge, the paper said.

The other school, John. F. Kennedy Middle School, where Hamlet was principal from the spring semester of 2009 to 2011, also had a C the school year that Hamlet became principal and maintained that rating throughout his tenure, the paper said.

Monday’s Pittsburgh school board meeting was the second held with Hamlet in recent days to discuss the controversy surrounding his résumé, according to the local papers.

Hamlet was expected to start the job on July 1 and be paid an annual salary of $210,000, according to his five-year contract with the district. He is being paid as a consultant from June 1 to June 30.

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.