THERE'S ONLY one way the Daily News can credit the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers for helping create Penn Alexander, while
simultaneously blaming the PFT for the district's inability to replicate it:
blatantly misrepresent the facts, as you did in your Oct. 3 editorial.
Here are the facts: Since 2000, school-based site
selection of teachers has been the rule, not the exception in Philadelphia.
Every school in the district fills at least 50 percent of its teacher vacancies
through site selection. Moreover, site selection is used to fill every teacher
vacancy in Philly's "high needs" schools.
But there is no correlation between site selection and
student achievement. Regardless of the hiring procedures in place, to fill
vacancies, you need applicants. Site selection did not help the district fill
the hundreds of teacher vacancies that existed last year, and it won't bring
new teachers to our schools this year.
The biggest impediment to recruiting and retaining the
best teachers is not the current PFT contract, but the lack of a new contract.
The instability created by the district's freezing of PFT members' salaries has
resulted in an exodus of teachers from which our schools are struggling to
recover.
Many PFT members are young parents with child-care
expenses, student loans and expenses associated with acquiring required
post-graduate credits in their field. They've lost tens of thousands of
dollars, which has reaped millions in savings for the district.
Your assertion that the PFT is playing
"rope-a-dope" with negotiations is outrageous, especially in light of
our numerous public statements calling for the district to return to the table.
Every day, educators at Penn Alexander and other schools accomplish amazing
things with children. They deserve a contract that supports and honors their
work.
Jerry Jordan, president
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
Source: Philly.com
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