Equity
Reporting Project
The Pittsburgh Promise
Why are so many young African American men struggling to make the grade in Pittsburgh's public schools?
Obama Academy senior Donald Lewis plans to attend Robert Morris University in the fall.
Why are so many young, black males failing to receive the Pittsburgh Promise, a $40,000 post-secondary scholarship for students in the Pittsburgh Public School District? African American males currently make up 13 percent of Promise recipients, despite comprising 27 percent of the student population.
Rebecca Nuttall takes a hard look at this program, as well other efforts to break down economic barriers to college for low-income and minority students.
This story was originally published in the Pittsburgh City Paper on May 27, 2015.
Story Link
Read the story: The Pittsburgh Promise
Rebecca Nuttall is a staff writer with the Pittsburgh City Paper, an alternative weekly, where she covers issues ranging from education to criminal justice. Previously, she spent five years with the New Pittsburgh Courier, one of the country’s oldest African-American newspapers. Nuttall’s recent journalism honors include receiving two awards in 2015 from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania for her feature on the failures of a highly touted Pittsburgh public school.