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Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 111 No. 48
Two Sections
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NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 1, 2020
Report: Vast disparities continue to exist in PPS between Black and White students But A+ Schools also highlighted some ‘bright spots’ occurring in the district by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
In an urban school district like Pittsburgh Public Schools, of which its students are majority-Black, how can the label of a “gifted student” be mostly associated with a White student? Perplexing, but true, according to A+ Schools’ yearly “Report to the Community” findings, released Nov. 16. A+ Schools, a local non-profit advocacy organization, found that during the 201920 school year, 66 percent of PPS students identified as “gifted” were White; just 18 percent were Black students. The district has a student population that’s 51 percent Black, 32 percent White, and the remaining 17 percent identifying as multi-ethnic, Hispanic or Asian.
The Pa. State Code defines “mentally gifted” as “outstanding intellectual and creative ability, the development of which requires specially designed programs or support services, or both, not ordinarily provided in the regular education program,” the report read. A+ Schools found that the students who were classified as “gifted” were mostly found in PPS schools that had the lowest percentages of students classified as “economically disadvantaged.” A New Pittsburgh Courier analysis of the data provided by A+ Schools revealed that there were three PPS schools that had 25 percent or less of its students classified as “economically disadvantaged.” Those three schools had the highest percentage of “gifted” students (CAPA 6-12, 34 per-
cent “gifted;” Colfax K-8, 20 percent “gifted;” Montessori PreK-5, 17 percent “gifted”). But in more than 45 PPS schools of which the percentage of “economically disadvantaged” students was 45 percent and higher, less than 10 percent of the students were classified as “gifted.” There’s only one school in the district last year that had more than 45 percent of its students classified as “economically disadvantaged” but had higher than 10 percent of its students classified as “gifted.” The school, the Courier has learned exclusively, was Obama 6-12, 51 percent “economically disadvantaged,” 14 percent “gifted.” “Gifted identification in the lower grades provides automatic access to more rigorous courses in high school,” A+ Schools’ report read, “which
TAMARA SANDERS-WOODS, principal of Pittsburgh Colfax K-8, was featured in A+ Schools’ annual “Report to the Community” for leading the improvement of Black students’ reading at grade level at the school. has been shown to be a powerful predictor of college enrollment, persistence, and success.” As students progress to high school, more Black students in the district tend to take AP, or Advanced Placement, courses. However, of the students who took at least one AP course in the 2019-20 school year, 56 percent were White, 27 percent were Black.
Possibly more staggering, while 23 percent of White students passed an AP course and scored a “3” or higher on an AP exam last year, just 1 percent of Black students did. James Fogarty, executive director of A+ Schools, told the Courier in an exclusive interview, Nov. 20, that there SEE A+ SCHOOLS A5
‘NEVER SETTLE.’
Dashon Cruse becomes federal licensed drone operator...at 18 years old by Rob Taylor Jr.
southwest of the Sioux City, Iowa, airport operating an Courier Staff Writer unmanned aircraft. What Quick!...You’ve been con- is the maximum altitude tracted to inspect towers lo- above ground level that cated approximately 4NM you’re authorized to oper-
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ate over the top of the towers? Exactly. Try 60 of these types of questions coming at you during the Federal Aviation Administration’s knowledge test you must pass in order to fly a drone legally for commercial purposes in the U.S. You better know your stuff. Dashon Cruse, a recent
graduate of University Prep High School (Pittsburgh Milliones), knows his stuff. On Oct. 13, Cruse, who will turn 19 on Dec. 6, walked into the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin, and two hours later, walked out as a licensed commercial drone operator. Of course, it wasn’t that easy. But Cruse told the
New Pittsburgh Courier he was determined to make history. It’s believed DASHON CRUSE that Cruse is the lone certified African American male drone being operated by a drone operator in Pitts- person, but it could be for burgh between the ages of recreational purposes, in 16 and 40. Look up in the sky, and one may find a SEE CRUSE A4
WESTINGHOUSE SOARS OVER THE COMPETITION Bulldogs go undefeated, beat Allderdice in the City League title game, 36-20, on Nov. 14. Get more on Page A8.
(Photo by Courier photographer William McBride)