Mahdi Bey for School Board
Pittsburgh Public Schools District 7
Creating a safe school environment where all students can succeed
Allocating money to student support services, eliminating suspensions, and fostering collaborative activism and participatory democracy.
Allocating money to student support services
The budget for student resources such as counselors, psychologists, and social workers has been significantly cut, and in some cases, positions have been eliminated, while the budget for security has increased. Students need mental health resources and education, counseling for day to day struggles, college preparation, and support in dealing with transitions. Eliminating and limiting social workers, counselors, and psychologists may also mean that parents are not getting the resources they need for their families.
Eliminating suspensions
Suspending children from school is not consistent with the district’s code of conduct to create an environment that is conducive to learning and community building. Our most vulnerable students are at the greatest risk of falling behind which could be a lingering consequence in their futures. Black students are suspended at disproportionately higher rates than their white counterparts, more than 2 times the rate of every other racial group. Students with disabilities are suspended nearly double the rate of students without disabilities.
Suspensions are a negative form of punishment that causes students to fall further behind in their academic and social emotional growth, allowing undesired behavior patterns to continue. This feeds the school to prison pipeline. Black students are already having intense interactions with the juvenile justice system causing severe negative youth development consequences, including disengagement from school, poor educational achievement, and future incarceration. This pattern will continue without appropriate intervention.
These practices are not unique to just Pittsburgh schools, but is a pattern all over Allegheny County. Pittsburgh Public Schools should lead by example and appropriately fund and utilize evidence based restorative practices. “Restorative practice is an alternative discipline approach that departs from the punitive model and instead uses a community-driven method to resolve conflicts where they arise, and to empathetically engage an offender in recognizing and repairing harm when it is caused.” These practices are found in extensive research published by The Center on Race and Social Problems University of Pittsburgh and supported by the Heinz Foundation.
As a member I will advocate to include grades 3-8 in the suspension ban and employ restorative practices to wholly educate and support our students.
Collaborative activism and participatory democracy
Students should be part of the decision-making process and development that happens in their communities. School board members, caregivers, teachers, and administrators should involve students by teaching them how to take care of their neighborhoods, teaching them about their civic duties, and the public process. Development is happening around them all the time without their input. Every time a policy is introduced board members should be thinking about how this will affect young people and students, and asking students themselves.
As the district faces a deficit the board should promote transparency and participation by giving students and parents the opportunity to identify and discuss their top priorities for the district’s spending. I will work with local and state representatives of the entire Pittsburgh Public Schools District and will always do my best to meet with and listen to the ideas and concerns of parents, students, teachers, residents, and leaders to help meet the needs of District 7.