Nerd News: No Edu-Crat Left Behind

*Sigh.*

Two years after Pittsburgh Public Schools received $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase teachers' effectiveness, the district has spent or allocated nearly a third of it on consultants and contractors, mainly from outside the state. 

Administrators told board members that they need consultants to perform specialized work outside the expertise of district personnel. 

"We're on track right now to be able to provide teachers and support teachers in improving their practice, in a way that hasn't been done before," said Sam Franklin, executive director of the district's Office of Teacher Effectiveness, whose $110,000 annual salary [my emphasis -- MM] is paid with Gates money.