PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 26th, 2013)- Six leading education organizations: Congreso de Latinos Unidos, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Education Fund, Public Citizens for Children and Youth, the Urban Affairs Coalition and the Urban League of Philadelphia, released the following joint statement commenting on the recent action taken by the Philadelphia School District and the School Reform Commission:
As members of the Coalition for Effective Teaching we commend the District and the SRC for adopting the Coalition’s recommendations for improving how teachers are placed in schools via the hiring and transfer process. We believe that resting teacher selection decisions with principals and committees of teachers and community members will ensure a better fit for teachers and promote more cohesive school teams that work together to help our students achieve.
However the fact that the District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers were not able to reach agreement on these reforms via the contract negotiation process is disappointing. More students will succeed in our schools if management and teachers are working together to improve student learning.
It is now incumbent on the District to ensure these reforms are implemented well. They must provide the guidance and support principals and their site selection teams need to effectively, fairly recruit and hire staff.
Further, the District’s elimination of the minimum staffing requirements in schools for counselors and librarians take us in the wrong direction. Where so many of our students are more likely to succeed if they could rely on the assistance of a counselor and the academic support of a librarian, further reductions in these position will put more students at risk of failure. To the degree that financial concerns are driving these changes, we urge advocacy for adequate funding rather than reduction in essential positions.
We also understand that the contract negotiations have been made more difficult because the District suffered deep cuts in state aid and rising pension and other costs. We recognize that both the union and the administration care deeply about the students in the District. However, we believe that all parties must recommit themselves to reaching an agreement on a contract so that the real work of educating our children can become the common focus of everyone employed in the District.