Anthony Hamlet

Anthony Hamlet is the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before beginning his career in education, he was a football player at the University of Miami and briefly with the Indianapolis Colts.

Education

Hamlet attended public schools in Palm Beach County, Florida. In 1992, he earned a bachelor's degree in general studies from the University of Miami, where he was a starting defensive tackle on the Hurricanes' undefeated 1991 National Co-champion football team. The team defeated the Nebraska 22-0 in the 1992 Orange Bowl.

He earned two degrees at Nova Southeastern University: a master's in education leadership in 2003 and a doctorate in education in 2007. In 2015, he was a member of the first class at the AASA-Howard University Urban Superintendent Academy, a program intended to train leaders for urban school districts.

Career

Hamlet was a defensive end on the NFL's Indianapolis Colts in 1993, but did not play in any games. He said he also was a player for the Seattle Seahawks and Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a short time.

He began his educational career as a case manager and behavioral specialist with a Palm Beach County mental health unit. He subsequently held positions as teacher, dean of students, assistant principal, principal, and district administrator, mostly with the School District of Palm Beach County. He worked in many different educational settings: urban and suburban, affluent and poverty-stricken, and with high-performing and low-performing schools.

In October 2015, the Pittsburgh School Board commissioned a national search for a new superintendent. In January 2016, their independent consultants issued a public call for applicants. Hamlet submitted his application in March, including a five-page resume and several letters of recommendation. Two months later the Pittsburgh school board unanimously voted to hire him as superintendent, with a five-year contract and an annual salary of $210,000. On July 1, 2016, Hamlet took the oath of office as Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent.

Controversies

Almost immediately after he was hired, and before he had taken the oath of office, it was uncovered that Hamlet lied on his resume about having turned around two schools from F to C ratings under Florida's state evaluation system. Instead, one school rose from a D to a C, and the other was a C the whole time he was in charge. Of the latter school, state officials acknowledged that test scores did improve slightly, but that the school declined in other areas enough to offset the gains in test scores. After this came out, the school board president and teachers union defended Hamlet, saying that he was needed for his record on turning schools around, despite the fact that it was his claimed record of turning schools around that he had lied about.

Pittsburgh Public Schools is reviewing a trip several administrators took to Cuba in April of 2019 without the required approval of the school board. Hamlet and five administrators accepted a trip to Cuba with travel and accommodations paid for by an education consulting group called The Flying Classroom. The trip has raised questions in regard to state ethics laws.