Pittsburgh superintendent's resume 'fraught with errors,' report says
Hours after Anthony Hamlet took the oath of office Friday as Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent, the district released an independent review that found the embattled schools chief had submitted resumes that were “fraught with errors” about his employment history and contained three instances of plagiarism.
“Honestly, I don't agree with anything the report said at all, and I don't want to continue to be getting on protracted point-for-counterpoint conversations with it,” Hamlet told the Tribune-Review.
“It has nothing to do with my track record at all,” Hamlet continued. “Moving forward, I want to really focus on Pittsburgh Public Schools.”
The board reviewed a draft of the 124-page report during a closed-door meeting Monday — during which some members “made specific requests to make changes to the information to be included in the report and provided additional information for my consideration,” former state prosecutor Laurel Brandstetter wrote in the final report.
“It was explained to the Board that the report must be independent from the Board,” the report stated. Similarly, Weiss Burkhardt, the district's law firm, had no role in managing “or influencing the investigation or its results,” Brandstetter noted.
A motion Wednesday to rescind Hamlet's contract failed in a 2-7 vote.
Hamlet started his first day as superintendent by apologizing to the community for the “unintended distraction” spurred by concerns that his resume contained inconsistencies, embellishments and plagiarism.
“I regret the concerns that arose around my arrival,” Hamlet, 46, a former Florida administrator, said shortly after taking the oath of office before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams in the courtyard of the district's headquarters in Oakland. “However, together, we need to restore our attention to what matters most: Pittsburgh schools' children.”
The review by Brandstetter said the “most significant” discrepancy in Hamlet's resume was that he stated he has been an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida since 2006, but university records show he actually started in 2009.
Brandstetter reported that Hamlet has given three different dates for receiving his doctorate from Nova Southeastern. Her report found that Hamlet provided two different resumes — one to the board as part of his application packet and a second to the media after questions arose about data discrepancies.
Changes made to the second resume “demonstrate awareness on Dr. Hamlet's part that his initial resume over-stated the statistics,” the report said.
The district's nine-member board voted unanimously in May to hire Hamlet at a $210,000 annual salary under a five-year contract. Soon after, apparent data embellishments and a plagiarized line from a 2015 Washington Post editorial were found in his resume.
The review found that inaccuracies about increased graduation rates, decreased suspensions and improved school grades during his time as a principal in Palm Beach County, Fla., to be “primarily the result of typos, inaccurate verbiage and lack of clarity or precision in his resume.”
Brandstetter's investigation found three portions of Hamlet's resume had been copied from other sources without attribution.
Through his lawyer, Johnny C. Taylor Jr., Hamlet told the board in a written response to the report that “he lacked the necessary intent” to plagiarize.
Brandstetter retained two individuals to assist with the investigation: Brian Weismantle, a retired Pittsburgh police homicide detective; and Jeff Worden, who specializes in “crisis communications,” to track and analyze media coverage of Hamlet.
Hamlet's former employer, the School District of Palm Beach County, refused all interview requests with the investigators and did not provide a statement, the report said. Rod Montgomery, a former principal who oversaw Hamlet when he was teaching at Wellington Community High School credited Hamlet for helping to improve the school's culture and academic performance.
Brandstetter said the team consulted with experts in academic integrity, human resources and legal issues amid debate over what constitutes plagiarism.
“The consensus was that one sentence is enough to constitute plagiarism and that plagiarism in a resume is a top concern of potential employers,” Brandstetter wrote in the report, noting that it's up to the board to determine the severity of such a violation as well as the “appropriate consequences.”
“Determining whether something constitutes plagiarism is dependent upon the author's intent and the context in which the material was used,” Taylor said in his response. “In each of these instances, we do not believe the references warranted specific attribution and therefore do not constitute plagiarism.”
Hamlet said the line from the Washington Post — which he also used in his May 18 opening remarks to the district — came from a speech he had asked someone to write for him more than a year ago. He told the Tribune-Review he never gave the speech.
He would not specify the type of event for which the speech had been prepared.
“It could be any kind of event,” he told the Tribune-Review. “You could pick one.”
School board members Lynda Wrenn and Terry Kennedy, who voted to rescind Hamlet's contract, said the report raised additional inconsistencies that caused them to rethink hiring him.
“Probably the biggest concern I've heard from parents is, ‘If he gets a pass on alleged plagiarism, what do I tell my children when they get caught?' ” said Wrenn this week.
School board members Moira Kaleida and Carolyn Klug said the report reaffirmed the decision to hire Hamlet.
“This has been harped on for long enough, and it's time for the city to move forward and get off of this petty stuff and move in the right direction for kids,” Kaleida said.
Hamlet said he has presented the board a 90-day plan that includes creating a transition team. He said he plans to hold forums for the community, students, teachers and administrators.
“I'm going to look, listen and learn, and make sure I learn everything I can about PPS,” he said.
Hamlet spent the past month making $808 per day for “transition activities,” which he said included studying district processes, transportation, human resources and meeting with district leaders.
Mayor Bill Peduto, who joined the audience in welcoming Hamlet with a standing ovation, said he plans to meet with Hamlet and work with those who opposed his hiring in an effort to make peace.
“It's now our job to work together,” Peduto said.
The board will evaluate Hamlet's performance four times a year, according to his contract.
“The haters are going to hate, as they say,” Klug said. “And I don't think we can change some people's opinions.”
Elizabeth Behrman and Natasha Lindstrom are staff writers for the Tribune-Review. Reach Lindstrom at 412-380-8514 or nlindstrom@tribweb.com. Reach Behrman at 412-320-7886 or lbehrman@tribweb.com.
