Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt To Speak at University of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH-Mark Roosevelt, who in August marked one year in his position as superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), will deliver a lecture from noon to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 26, at Pitt's Center on Race and Social Problems, in the School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave. The talk is free and open to the public; lunch will be provided. Registration is not required. For more information, call 412-624-7382.

The title of Roosevelt's talk is "The Intersection of Race and Educational Opportunity and Achievement."

Roosevelt came to Pittsburgh from Boston, Mass., where he served for three years as chair of the Massachusetts State Legislature's Education Committee. He crafted the landmark Education Reform Act of 1993, which restructured the way the state funds and manages its public schools. All school districts in Massachusetts now have roughly the same financial resources. In 1994, Roosevelt was the Democratic nominee for governor of Massachusetts. Since then, he has taught political science at Brandeis University, where he also was the director of the Gordon Public Policy Center, and was the CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives and managing director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.

As PPS superintendent, Roosevelt instituted what he called the Right-Sizing Plan, which reduced the number of schools within the district from 86 to 65 and closed one administrative building. This action was part of his effort to save $14.7 million annually in operating costs. The plan also is projected to make more schools racially diverse.

Roosevelt holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and the Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College.

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9/21/06/tmw