You have to love PPS HR department for their professionalism:

Administrator Hiring

Portland Public Schools is committed to hiring and developing the most outstanding school administrators in the country. We seek a diverse workforce that reflects our student population. You are invited to contact us if you would like more information or if you have questions.

To apply, click this link and follow the steps. 

I’m looking for someone from PPS to write a guest post on the proposed changes to the PPS ESL program.  The guest author may post anonymously if preferred.  I will not disclose your confidential information.  Please contact me at carrie.adams@comcast if you’re interested in writing a post.

Does anyone else question why the superintendent with 2 advisors, 2 lawyers, 28 directors, a few chiefs and several other senior level administrators would refer to a group of a dozen self elected parent representatives as her “brain trust”?

This past fall Superintendent Smith reorganized the Central Office  and reported that 10.5 Central Office senior level and support positions had been cut resulting in $1 million savings. 

Some of the so-called cuts didn’t make sense at the time.  Smith said the organization had been streamlined to reduce the layers between the superintendent and the schools.  “In the past, assistant superintendents oversaw area directors who oversaw PK-8 schools or high schools. Now there are four PK-12 regions, each led by a deputy superintendent and supported by a region administrator.”

What that means is that assistant superintendents are now called deputy superintendents and area directors are called region administrators.  There’s no change in the number of layers between the superintendent and the schools. 

A quick review of Smith’s 2009/10 Central Office Organizational Chart might look lean but keep looking.  Smith’s org chart is 15 pages long and doesn’t identify most Central Office administrator positions.  One could easily get the impression that the district is being run by 13 the individuals shown on the org chart but there are 37 Central Office senior level administrator positions missing from that org chart.  I was generous when reviewing the district’s structure and didn’t include a few PPS Directors located off-site or staff identified as managers.  None of the Central Office positions listed below appear on the current org chart:

1. Advisor to the Superintendent (2 positions)
2. Director – SPED & Interventions
3. Chief Information Officer
4. Director – Special Projects
5. Director – Administrator Hiring/Performance Management
6. Administrator – Regional Program (4 positions)
7. Director – Leadership Development
8. Director – Strategic Partnership
9. Director – Procurement & Distribution
10. SPED Legal Counselor
11. Director – Accounting/Payroll Services
12. Director – IT Operations
13. Director – Employment Services/Assistant Executive Director
14. Director – Workforce Diversity
15. Director – Labor Relations
16. Director – HR Legal Counsel
17. Director – Family Support/School Choice
18. Director – Federal/State Grants
19. Director – Research and Evaluation
20. Broad Fellow – Special Assistant
21. Broad Fellow – High School Reform
22. Director – Funded Programs
23. Director – Nutrition Services
24. Director – Comp/Benefits
25. Director – Government Relations
26. Director – Curriculum
27. Director – ESL (Relocated to Roosevelt Campus)
28. Director – Facilities and Assets
29. Director – Compliance
30. Director – Migrant Education
31. Director – IT Client Services
32. Director – IT Application Services
33. Director – Security Services
34. Director – School & System Performance

A bad hard copy of a 1999 PPS Central Office Organizational Chart shows 24 senior level Central Office positions including 3 chiefs, general counsel, 6 area directors, 3 assistant superintendents, executive director of human resources, 7 department directors, comptroller, lobbyist, and a system project officer.  Even then a performance audit recommended streamlining the Central Office. 

Don’t be fooled.  PPS at least 50 senior level Central Office positions today compared with 24 in 1999. 

The reality is that the PPS Central Office now has almost twice as many administrators managing a system with a declining student population.  How has that benefited children?