For Immediate Release
June 28, 2007

CONTACT:
Colleen Greer
Phone: 717-787-6801
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Piccola issues statement rejecting and refuting Harrisburg School District Superintendent Dr. Gerry Kohn's ‘alternative state ranking system' for measuring school improvement

"I am appalled at Dr. Gerry Kohn's ‘alternative state ranking system' for measuring school improvement. Frankly, Dr. Kohn's actions are an embarrassment. Dr. Kohn knows the truth. The truth is that the children of the Harrisburg School District, under Dr. Kohn's leadership, have continued to fall behind even the worst performing school districts in the state and for the past four years of his tenure have the lowest scores on the Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment tests.

"These tests are those by which all others schools in the Commonwealth measure whether students are learning math and reading. They are the tests which our State Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education employ to analyze whether students are learning essential reading and math skills.

"Dr. Kohn is one of the highest paid superintendents in the Commonwealth. Apparently, the taxpayers are paying for a P.R. machine rather than a school superintendent. In fact, Dr. Kohn's data is not inconsistent with the Pittsburgh survey. He's just presenting very bad news in a different light. He wants to direct the conversation towards the districts that have shown the most improvement, albeit barely noticeable. What he fails to mention is that when you start on the absolute bottom there is only one direction to go and that is up. So, even if test scores are raised by a millimeter, you can, in the strict but absurd sense, claim improvement.

"What Dr. Kohn does not mention is that Harrisburg's rate of improvement still lags behind all of the other school districts in the state that have poor academic performance. In other words, when compared to the other school districts that the state has designated the most in need of improvement, Harrisburg has had the least improvement.

"I have advocated reform of this district over the past six years for one goal, and one goal alone – improvement in the academic achievement of the children of this city. Over the past two years, I have engaged in private negotiations to stir more vigorous attention to completely unacceptable student performance. And I have been met with nothing but opposition from Dr. Kohn and his team. Dr. Kohn continues to try to squirm away from the fact that his lack of leadership has resulted in Harrisburg having the lowest test scores in the state. A person that cannot be honest about the gravity of a problem is not in a position to shape the remedy.

"I believe in the city's children and have no doubt they can learn, achieve, and succeed. They deserve nothing less than the opportunity to do so. When reviewing test scores, it is obvious they are not being afforded that full opportunity now."

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