THOMAS SUMPTER

When District 3 Pittsburgh Public Schools Director Thomas Sumpter was first elected to the board in 2005, he said his goal was to address the achievement gap between Black and White Students. In 2007, that gap in reading was 33.7 percentage points and 32.8 for math. Today, the gap is 31.9 percentage points and 30.9 respectively.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done. There are some critical decisions that need to be made. The biggest issue is the long-term sustainability of the district. Disparities in achievement that still exist in the district are still an issue,” Sumpter said. “The issue when I first ran was to address the achievement disparity and that takes time. It takes time to first understand what’s going on and once you learn that to be able to apply what’s necessary so for me it’s a continuing effort.”
Sumpter is running unopposed to retain his seat in the upcoming May primary election. After nearly a decade he said he has been able to ensure the board is focused on moving in the right direction.
“Since my tenure, I’ve been able to get the school board to establish its goals, beliefs and commitments,” Sumpter said. “It puts you in a position where you can see what activities are going to contribute to that and you can see where your money is being spent.”
During his tenure, Sumpter completed the Broad Institute for School Boards, where he learned the role of board members in urban districts. For Sumpter the responsibility of the board is not to micromanage, but instead to hold the district accountable for carrying out policies.
“In my role, I view myself as a person of reason; you have to understand where other people are coming from,” Sumpter said. “My intent is to change the culture of the school board, before I came on it wasn’t really focused on exhibiting good governance.”
A decrease of only two percentage points in the achievement gap over the past six years is disheartening to many in the Black community, especially since the achievement gap actually widened between 2011 and 2012.
“That is one of the most difficult and all encompassing questions,” Sumpter said about closing the achievement gap. “One way for sure is when I say boosting attendance because you can’t boost achievement when the students aren’t in the classroom. Attendance levels aren’t what they should be.”
In order to reduce the achievement gap Sumpter said he would focus on using data to improve decision-making and analysis of achievement. He also said he plans to continue the district’s commitment of having a highly effective teacher in every classroom.
In fact, Sumpter said one of his biggest accomplishments during his tenure was securing an Empowering Effective Teachers grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Sumpter also plans to reduce the achivement by increasing engagement from parents and the community.
“The whole thing of people taking pride in education, pride in our children and moving away from small parochial concerns of whether I have a school in my neighborhood or not to whether I was in a good district, because resources are tighter than ever,” Sumpter said.

CHRIS KOCH

While those who attended the Community Input Meeting on developing the Lower Hill District site, formerly occupied by the Civic Arena, did enjoy a casual atmosphere and a dinner of wings, potatoes and green beans, they did not hear a lot of new details about how many buildings of what type would go where.
But the nearly 200 residents and stakeholders who attended the April 10 meeting at the Hill House Kaufmann Auditorium did hear one bit of news; that, if everything goes smoothly, infrastructure development could begin in as soon as six weeks.
This revelation came during Community Design Center Program Director Chris Koch’s presentation on the process of gaining multiple zoning approvals simultaneously for large development sites by creating a Special Development District. As she went through the process, she explained the first part requiring approval is a Preliminary Land Development Plan, which include details for infrastructure, development patterns, landscape design, and architectural details and is accompanied by updated zoning text.
Hill District city Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle told the New Pittsburgh Courier that plan would be submitted to the Department of City Planning within two weeks.
“I’ve been having weekly meetings with the Pittsburgh Penguins about this for some time,” said Lavelle. “We have a couple more to go then we’ll submit the plan. So, after that, if the process goes smoothly, we could begin site work in six weeks.”
That process would involve a minimum of three more community meetings before the zoning board, city planning and city council all sign off on the plan. The site work would also include an archeological study and digs to recover any historical artifacts if need be.
Furthermore, as both Lavelle and Hill Community Development Corp. Director Marimba Milliones reminded the audience, that initial site work offers opportunities for people to bid on contracts ranging from construction management to the guy who sells hot dogs on site.
“At every phase in these projects from before, during and after, we’re looking to maximize participation,” she said. “All of this is in keeping with the Hill Master Plan to connect the human side with the development side. We have a total of eight different designs stretching from the Upper Hill to the Lower Hill.”
Milliones also updated the community on nearly completed new housing on Dinwiddie and Reed Streets, and how housing plans call for residential expansion down Crawford Street to Fifth Avenue.
She also noted the ongoing construction of the SHOP ‘N SAVE underway on Centre Avenue and the upcoming groundbreaking for the first phase of the Addison Terrace public housing community redevelopment.
Hill Consensus Group co-convener Carl Redwood Jr. reminded the audience that now and into the near future, parking would generate practically all revenue on the 28-acre Lower Hill site, and that he is still campaigning to have $1 per car earmarked for Hill District development/community needs.
Other than parking taxes generated from the new spaces created following the demolition of the Civic Arena, that revenue goes to the Penguins.
Travis Williams, COO of the Penguins, and Clarence Curry from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh also made a presentation about the infrastructure plans for the site. A second community meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m., April 17 at the Thelma Lovette YMCA.
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ALL POINTS BULLETIN—Point Park students Alexandra Martinez-O’Reilly, Mauricia Turner and prospective Indiana University student Dorian Frison listen to a presentation by Allegheny County Deputy Sheriff S. Jason Tarap during the March 27 Point Park University job fair.

With each nearly all-White class of academy graduates, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police’ lack of racial diversity has become an increasingly divisive issue. Indeed, it has even made its way into the debates among the candidates running for mayor.
But rather than just debate the issue, Point Park University decided to team up with the Pennsylvania State Police for a career fair, and got an exceptional response.
“We actually had students waiting to get in before we got here,” said Career Counselor Amy Pointer. “So yes the response has been excellent.”
David King, assistant to the chair of the university’s Criminal Justice and Intelligence Studies department was impressed.
“We had over 250 in the first two hours,” he said. “We had one guy from out of the country, mostly students, but not all. One of the key draws is that the state police are hiring now.”
Trooper Ed Joyner, as 20-year veteran, said he was impressed with the turnout.
“I saw a lot of good candidates coming through, very enthusiastic,” he said. “We had a good number of African-Americans, and we had a lot of females. We usually don’t get that many. So it’s a good day.”
Joyner said the state budget afforded them a chance to have a recruiting class of up to 80 applicants depending on the response.
“People ask if they need a military background, and they don’t,” he said. “It’s a plus, but anyone can do this job with the right mindset.”
He also noted that there are more departments within the state police than most people realize, including criminal investigations, forensic services, collision analysis and reconstruction, fire marshal, polygrapher, motorcycle and canine unit.
The unit that seemed to get the most attention, however, was the Special Emergency Response Team.  That was because Trooper Jeff Worth, who was manning the desk brought something most people never get to see, his .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle.
Most people in the state police never see one either, he explained to prospective recruits because you have to be on the force for three years before you can even apply to the SERT team.
Keilyan Burkes, a junior majoring in Intelligence studies, said though his career thoughts had been geared toward federal agencies like the CIA, NSA or FBI, he was intrigued by what he saw.
“I didn’t know about all these different divisions, so I’ve been talking to the troopers to see what I could do to advance because some of these are a good fit with my programs,” he said. “I’m not averse to joining at all. I’m glad I came.”
Tavis Davis came all the way from Seton Hill University in Greensburg after meeting a recruiter there and filling out an application.
“I did a little research and learned they have among the best bonus, pay and training in the country,” he said. “I’ll be coming back here May 2 for the written exam.”
Also in attendance were personnel representing the State Police Liquor Control Enforcement and the state Civil Service Commission as well as Allegheny County Police and county Housing Authority, and the Pittsburgh Bomb Squad.
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VANESSA GERMAN (Photo by J.L. Martello)

In some cities, business ventures are launched in backroom deals at exclusive clubs where powerbrokers make decisions without community input. But in Pittsburgh, business relationships are developed at the Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise’s Annual Inclusive Voices community exchange where corporate executives, nonprofit professionals and activists come together to improve their city.
On April 12, PACE held their 5th Annual Inclusive Voices at the Omni William Penn, where prominent Pittsburgh leaders led table conversations. The event is designed to advance PACE’s mission to strengthen nonprofit organizations that can assist African-Americans and economically disadvantaged communities.
“I was actually there at the inception of PACE. It was a sad time in our society, but there was a great urgency and a great hope that we could bring about change,” said the event’s master of ceremonies Robert Nelkin, president and chief professional officer of United Way of Allegheny County. “As a community we have a vision for change.”
Though the conversationalists were not directed by any singular theme, the conversations at many tables seemed to mirror Nelkin’s words. The conversations focused on shaping the future of Pittsburgh.
“Right now Pittsburgh is known as the ‘Most Livable City.’ That’s the narrative that’s really powerful now,” said Germaine Williams, a table conversationalist and senior program officer for arts and culture at the Pittsburgh Foundation. “If we could look out ten years what should the narrative be?”
With an important mayoral election coming up for the city, conversations also shifted to the political future of Pittsburgh. At retired city councilman Sala Udin’s table he asked guests to put themselves in the future mayor’s shoes. How would they handle issues like the police department?
At other tables, the conversation turned to the problem of Black-on-Black gun violence. While some argued for greater gun control, others looked at ways to improve the socioeconomic status of the African-American community.
“The people at the table are all deeply invested in developing the Black communities in Pittsburgh,” said table conversationalist Jesse Washington, a journalist with the Associated Press, before illustrating a point made by fellow table member Mark Lewis, executive director of the Poise Foundation. “We’re in the business of helping people. How do we change people or solve the problems?”
PACE was founded following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in an effort to continue the struggle for social change. Over the years the organization has made $10 million in grants to over 300 community-based organizations.
“We are also celebrating this year our 45th anniversary,” Peggy Harris, chair of the PACE Board of Commissioners. “PACE was founded out of the civil rights movement so this is an important year for us.”

P.A.C.E. 5th Annual Inclusive Voices Event 2013 Video SlideShow