PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/author/mary-niederberger/page/2/)
Mary Niederberger is a longtime Pittsburgh-area journalist who started her career with a decade at The Pittsburgh Press. After freelancing and teaching at local universities for several years, she joined the staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she spent 18 years covering community news, general assignment and education. Her work has taken her to nearly every community in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, and her stories in recent years have focused on education issues, specifically under-resourced schools and the students they serve. She received the Golden Quill Award for education coverage from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania in 2014, 2015 and 2016. She is also the recipient of the Robert L. Vann Award of Excellence for investigative/enterprise reporting from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation in 2011 and 2015. Also in 2015, Mary and a colleague from the Post-Gazette received first place in the Pennsylvania Society of of Professional Journalist Spotlight Awards for their coverage of the ghost job held by the state's special adviser on higher education. Mary holds a bachelor's degree from Duquesne University and is a lifelong Pittsburgh-area resident.
A number of school district superintendents across Allegheny County posted messages of condolences on district websites, sent email blasts letting families know that counselors were available and outlining resources for helping children with anxiety in the shooting’s aftermath.
The suspect in the shooting deaths of 11 Jewish worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Saturday made a reference in social media posts to HIAS as an organization that “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people.”
The campaign to create the Allegheny County Children's Fund has received more than $1 million in donations from 10 local organizations. Campaign organizers have spent most of it, primarily on advertising, consulting and voter outreach, according to a campaign finance report filed Friday afternoon.
On Nov. 6, voters will be asked to choose ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a question on their ballots about the children’s fund. If passed, the county will implement a tax increase to go toward the children’s fund.
Pittsburgh Public Schools Chief of Safety George Brown Jr., who was in favor of the controversial proposal to arm his force, said after the meeting: “Let’s pray nothing happens.”
A public hearing was held at the Pittsburgh Public Schools Building after the district’s Chief of School Safety requested to arm officers earlier this month.
Three Allegheny County nonprofits have poured $355,000 in cash and nearly $72,000 in in-kind services into a campaign urging voters to approve a ballot referendum on Nov. 6 that would raise $18 million in tax revenue for children’s programs.
In the world of STEAM, it’s easy to get left behind if your school district struggles financially.
Pittsburgh Public Schools is debating a proposal to arm the officers who patrol district schools. The district’s Chief of School Safety George Brown Jr. made the request to arm officers Monday night at the board policy committee meeting. The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, which represents the officers, supports the proposal. However, the proposal doesn’t appear to have the support of the majority of the school board, whose members expressed concerns about the safety of students — black students in particular — if officers were to carry guns. “We know who gets shot: students of color and students with IEPs,” said board member Moira Kaleida, who chaired the Monday meeting.
On the 2018 PSSAs, across the district, 46.2 percent of students were proficient in ELA, 28.8 percent in math and 46.2 percent in science.
A singular message rang from the voices of two dozen speakers at the monthly public hearing of the Pittsburgh Public Schools board on Monday:
Don’t let the few objections over questions posed about volunteers’ sexual orientation, religion or other personal matters halt the district’s relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh.
