Pittsburgh Teacher Terminated After Long, Public Battle

PITTSBURGH (KDKA)- The Pittsburgh Public School Board has voted to fire teacher Joe Giansante.

The 56-year-old received an unsatisfactory report from leaders at Brashear High School in each of his two years at the school. They claim he did not follow the expected phases of the lesson, struggled to manage the classroom and didn't prepare for classes well enough.

Giansante disputes these claims, and says his record speaks for itself.

"I was well-liked by my students and they performed outstanding on the tests and I was terminated," said Giansante.

Giansante, a math teacher who spent six years at Westinghouse High School before his two years at Brashear High School, claims he has the highest rating of a teacher in the district under the district's system.

Despite his students' high test scores and his high student survey results, the school board voted to terminate Giansante Tuesday night.

"I'm very disappointed. It hurts because they know I was one of the top teachers in the district. The fight will continue," said Giansante. "They are 100 percent wrong and I know I was an excellent teacher."

Giansante plans on filing an appeal with the state's Secretary of Education.

The process for Giansante's dismissal began after his second unsatisfactory report from Brashear back in 2012-13 school year. In his defense, he spoke three times at board public hearings and even opened his tenure dismissal hearing to the public.

According to the Post-Gazette, after two years of procedural wrangling, Giansante had a board hearing that took place over five days beginning in April and ending in July of this year. Only one school board member showed up to the hearings, which involved thousands of pages of transcripts and exhibits.

According to the Post-Gazette, over the past four years in Pittsburgh Public Schools, 157 teachers have received at least one unsatisfactory rating. Of those, 106 decided to leave.

Currently, Giansante is a part-time teacher at CCAC in Homewood.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter