January Newsflash
Site selection sees small, steady rise
Teachers at more Philadelphia schools have voted to make new teacher hiring decisions on the individual school level, rather than leaving it to the District's central office teacher placement process for next year.
New teachers will be hired using a site-based selection process at 43 schools for 2004-05, up from this year's 31 schools.
The number of schools that use site-based hiring has grown steadily each year since it began with 15 schools in 2001. Eleven of the original 15 will be participating in site-based selection next year.
The current Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) union contract affords teachers the right to vote in a site-based selection process at their schools, but such a measure must secure two-thirds of the teacher vote at a particular school.
Where site-based selection exists, the current union contract specifies that hiring decisions be made by a personnel committee comprised of the principal, three teachers, and a parent.
That 84 percent of the current site-based selection schools reauthorized the hiring process for next year is a sign that it works, said Nancy McGinley, executive director of the Philadelphia Education Fund, a local education advocacy organization.
She added that the increased number of participating schools is "an indication that people in the field are hearing good things from the other schools that have been participating in site-based selection."
But PFT spokeswoman Barbara Goodman said site-based selection is not necessarily a good thing for every school.
"It addresses the needs of certain schools, maybe not all schools," Goodman said, adding that the PFT supports the program in schools where most teachers believe site-based selection is appropriate for their buildings.
The site-based selection schools for 2004-05,
listed by region, are:
Central: Blaine, Bodine, Franklin Learning Center, M.H. Stanton,
Meade, Reynolds*
Central East: Adaire, Conwell, H.A. Brown, Julia de Burgos*, Welsh
East: AMY Martin, Frankford High*, Pollock
North: Barton*, Central East, Clemente, Cooke*, Franklin Elementary*,
Grover Washington, Jr.*, Lowell, McClure, Morrison, Olney Elementary*
Northeast: Hancock
Northwest: AMY Northwest, Dobson, Emlen*, Henry, McCloskey, Pennypacker
South: Audenried*, Key*, Meredith, Nebinger, Pierce Middle*
Southwest: Alexander (Penn-assisted)
West: Blankenburg, Bluford*, Daroff*, Overbrook Elementary*, Powel,
Rhoads Elementary
* Schools that do not have site-based selection this year.
For more information on site-based selection see the Notebook's Winter 2003-04 edition "Improving teacher quality."