Latest News
December 6, 2019

‘Urban’ superintendents decry charter school funding system

By Mon Valley Independent

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

Superintendents from 19 “urban school districts” across the state held press conferences Thursday to call for an end to the current cyber-charter/charter school funding system they say is unfair and inequitable.

The events were organized by The Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools.

McKeesport Area Superintendent Dr. Mark Holtzman is one of the superintendents who participated and was joined by superintendents from seven school districts. They were Dr. Lisa Duval (South Allegheny), Sue Moyer (Duquesne City), James Harris (Woodland Hills), Dr. Nancy Hines (Penn Hills), Dr. Ginny Hunt (Clairton), Ed Wehrer (Steel Valley) and Dr. Linda J. Iverson (Wilkinsburg).

The group, dubbed “Ed. Leaders Pittsburgh,” meets each month “to discuss the common issues our similar districts that kind of represent the Mon Valley share.”

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.

Around The Valley
By By PAULA REED WARD TribLive 
December 5, 2025
The case involves a 2020 shooting outside the Beer Barrel in McKeesport. A Homestead woman pleaded guilty on Thursday to voluntary manslaughter stemming from a fatal shooting outside a McKeesport bar ...
Mon Valley Paws thanks donors, presents awards
Around The Valley
December 5, 2025
The nonprofit aids people and organizations that rescue animals and provide health care for them. By the MVI Mon Valley Paws held its annual Giveback Celebration at Foster House II on Tuesday to thank...
George Woodward Simpson Sr.
Obituaries
December 5, 2025
George Woodward Simpson Sr., 90, passed peacefully in the presence of family on Sund a y , Nov. 23, 2025, in Edgewater, Md. Born on 27 Dec., 1934, and raised in Donora as an equally proud Scot and “Mo...
Lori Lee Baker Downes
Obituaries
December 5, 2025
BELLE VERNON Lori Lee Baker Downes, 66, of Belle Vernon, Rostraver Township, passed away Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at her home. Born July 8, 1959, in North Charleroi, she was the daughter of the late Alb...
Obituaries
December 5, 2025
FORMERLY OF BELLE VERNON Harry Edward Johnston Jr., 79, formerly of Belle Vernon, passed away on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, at John C. Lincoln Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., with his family at his side....
Carol M Wolford
Obituaries
December 5, 2025
MONESSEN Carol M Wolford, 80, of Monessen, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, in Penn Highlands Mon Va l l e y Hospital. A daughter of the late William and Betty Harger Swaney, she was born in North...