Fear the Asshat!!!! Apprently mocking the Pittsburgh Public Schools was all it took, as the bastion of all things educational in my sleepy little hamlet decided to change the name back. They call it public outcry, but in your hearts you know the real reason, and I am gladly taking credit.
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 20, 2007
Last week's plan to remove the word "public" from Pittsburgh Public School's official moniker caused enough of an outcry to warrant reconsideration of the decision, Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said Thursday.
"There was a bit of a brouhaha over dropping the word 'public' from our name," Roosevelt said. "So we're going to put it back in, even though it will make the name a little bit longer and cumbersome."
While the reaction to the original name change was more match strike than firestorm, it nonetheless caught the attention of district officials.
"I personally didn't get any calls about it, but I guess some people didn't like the idea," the superintendent said. "The reaction was a bit of a surprise, actually, because the fact is our actual legal name is 'School District of Pittsburgh' and that isn't being changed."
The original decision to shorten the district's name to Pittsburgh Schools was a result of past inconsistencies, the superintendent said.
"School District of Pittsburgh" is written on its trucks; the "Pittsburgh Board of Education" is written on the administration building in Oakland; "Pittsburgh Schools" is used on police cars; and "Pittsburgh Public Schools" appears on business cards.
"Because of all the different names out there, we wanted to create a little consistency and simplicity," Roosevelt said.
Roosevelt cautioned that there is no plan to "go out and start spending money to paint over the names and change letterhead. All the changes will be made as things are replaced."
The district did, however, pay about $15,000 to a pair of consultants who suggested the school district start using a shorter name on letterhead and other written materials.
Roosevelt said the decision to go back to using the name Pittsburgh Public Schools will not affect plans to change the names of individual schools. When the school year begins, "Pittsburgh" will precede the name of each school. For example, Peabody high school would become Pittsburgh Peabody.
Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7987.
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