Home > Board Appoints Dr. Linda Lane Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent -Deputy Superintendent Becomes First African-American Woman to be Named Permanent Superintendent

Board Appoints Dr. Linda Lane Pittsburgh

Public Schools Superintendent

Deputy Superintendent Becomes First African-American

Woman to be Named Permanent Superintendent

PITTSBURGH, December 13, 2010 – Exactly four years from the day she was appointed Deputy Superintendent, Dr. Linda Lane has been named the District’s new Superintendent effective January 1, 2011. The Board appointed Dr. Lane at a Special Legislative Meeting held this evening. Tonight’s action makes Dr. Lane the first African-American woman to be named permanent Superintendent. A door originally opened in July 1999, when Dr. Helen Faison became the first African-American woman to be appointed Acting Superintendent.

“I am honored to have been chosen for this position. I love this City and District and remain committed to the successful execution of the work we have begun,” said Dr. Lane. “We are going to continue the work of our Empowering Effective Teachers plan, deepen our work in underperforming high schools, and expedite our work to eliminate racial achievement disparities.”

As Deputy Superintendent Curriculum, Instruction, and Accountability, Dr. Lane has;

· Led the launch of a new rigorous core curriculum;

· Served as a key member of the planning and presentation team that led the District to receiving a $40 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and

· Advanced the District’s effort to eliminate the achievement disparity between white students and African- American students; including the development of the District’s first equity policy.

“We are confident that Dr. Lane has the necessary experience to take the work we have started to the next level. She began her career in education as a classroom teacher and because of this knows what we need to do to support our teachers and principals to ensure we reach our District’s vision of Excellence for All,” said Board President Sherry Hazuda.

In line with the Board’s commitment to create a culture of accountability, the Board has given Dr. Lane a performance-based contract. The first performance-based contract was established with Superintendent Mark Roosevelt in 2005. Since then, all District Principals, Assistant Superintendents, the Chief of Research, Assessment and Accountability, and the Deputy Superintendent have been given performance-based contracts. In 2010, the Board and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers reached an historic five-year contract that includes opportunities for teachers to earn additional compensation based upon student achievement.

Dr. Lane’s compensation will be tied to meeting yearly performance priorities set by the Board. Dr. Lane’s salary will provide the opportunity for her to receive a $10,000 merit increase, in addition to a $5,000 automatic yearly increase. Dr. Lane’s salary as Superintendent will start at $200,000. If she meets her performance priorities every year of her three-year contract, her annual salary could increase to a maximum of $245,000 by 2013-14.

Dr. Lane will be expected to meet the performance priorities set by the Board this past August, which include:

Continue Implementation of the Empowering Effective Teacher Plan: Continue implementation and adjust timetables to advance plans for the Empowering Effective Teachers plan. For details about the plan please visit http://empoweringpittsburghteachers.com.
Prioritize High Schools: Ensure effective administrative oversight of high schools and planning for new high school programs, refine implementation of the Career and Technical Education Plan and implement an effective, innovative Promise-Readiness Corps.
Continue District Progress on PSSA Exams: Show continued progress on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams compared to prior years by evidencing progress on a majority of the 42 testing points, meaning movement from below basic to basic, basic to proficient, proficient to advanced, and reduction of racial achievement disparities.
School and Community Engagement: Increase Superintendent visibility throughout the District.

“I want to thank the Board for this opportunity to serve the District and the City, both of which I have come to love. I want to thank the leadership team that I’ve been privileged to work with for the past four years, for all of their hard work and dedication. We have many accomplishments to be proud of and I ask that everyone recommit themselves to this work and the students of our District.

Lastly, I want to thank Mark Roosevelt for his vision and hard work. Every decision we make is guided by the goal of ensuring that all students are ready to take advantage of a scholarship from the Pittsburgh Promise®. The Promise is an enormous community gift, and Mark (Roosevelt) was the driving force behind making the Promise a reality for our community.

Now we need to deepen the work we have begun. There will be challenges ahead and we will need to continue to make the difficult decisions necessary to ensure that our students continue to improve academically at all levels,” concluded Dr. Lane.

A lifelong educator, Dr. Lane came to Pittsburgh from Des Moines, Iowa where she served as Deputy Superintendent for the Des Moines Public Schools. She was the first female and minority to serve as Des Moines’ Chief Operating Officer, overseeing human resources, business operations, finance, transportation and facilities. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Director of Human Resources, spearheading efforts to improve services to staff and increase organizational efficiency.

Dr. Lane began her career as an elementary teacher in the Iowa City and Des Moines Public Schools. She holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and a Master of Science in School Administration from Drake University, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Iowa. Dr. Lane also is a graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy, an intensive executive management program designed to prepare traditional and non-traditional professionals to lead urban public school systems. Throughout her career, she has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the most recent a 2010 Woman of Excellence award from The New Pittsburgh Courier and the 2006 President’s Award for Community Improvement. Dr. Lane resides in the Highland Park neighborhood with her husband and has two grown children.

Dr. Linda Lane will begin her post as Superintendent January 1, 2010, as Mark Roosevelt starts his new position as President of Antioch College.

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