Coalition highlights staffing disparities

Vacancies down, but teacher quality gap remains

by Paul Socolar

Photo: Harvey Finkle

Teacher vacancies are down and job applications are up, but inequities among schools persist.

There were just 41 teacher job vacancies in Philadelphia schools this February, less than half the number from a year earlier. Applications for teaching positions have climbed by 70 percent in two years. Fewer new teachers this school year have quit.

Looking citywide at staffing in the School District, the trends are unmistakably positive.

But a newly formed coalition of more than 20 local organizations points out that when looking at the numbers school by school, glaring inequities among schools show up.

"The unfortunate fact remains that our schools with the highest concentration of poor and minority students have the highest percentages of emergency-certified teachers, the highest percentage of inexperienced teachers, the highest number of vacancies, the highest teacher turnover rates, and the most challenging working conditions," said Aldustus Jordan, education specialist at Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth.

There are fears that a new early retirement program will worsen the staffing disparities.

Data released by the state of Pennsylvania confirm that there is tremendous variation among schools in their ability to staff classrooms with teachers that meet the state's definition of "highly qualified" - teachers who are fully certified or those who have passed their exams and are in approved alternative certification programs.

Overall, just over 90 percent of Philadelphia's public school teachers met the state's standard in 2002-03. While dozens of Philadelphia schools were staffed entirely with teachers deemed "highly qualified," many of the city's high-poverty schools fell well below the citywide average.

FitzSimons Middle School had only 44 percent "highly qualified" teachers and Muñoz-Marín Elementary had only 58 percent. Besides having high-poverty populations, these two schools, like most of those that ranked near the bottom citywide on teacher qualifications, are currently run by private education management organizations.

Perpetual vacancies

The District's teacher recruitment and retention czar, Tomás Hanna, while citing encouraging trends in the vacancy situation as well as the 1,290 new teachers hired this year, is quick to acknowledge the continuing problem with what he calls "perpetual vacancies," or "churn."

Hanna explained, "So you've filled the vacancy, but that same vacancy has been filled already four times this year, so the consistency issue does remain in play."

Understanding and addressing this churn is one focus of Hanna's office, which is working on expanding the support provided for new teachers - from the central office, from new teacher coaches, and from principals.

Recruitment also continues to be a priority. Despite an increase in applications, the District hired well over 300 emergency-certified teachers this year. That means 27 percent of newly hired teachers this year are on emergency certificates. Last year, 32 percent of newly hired teachers were emergency-certified, Hanna reported.

Hanna expressed optimism that initiatives like the District's standardized curriculum, class size reduction, a more aggressive approach to dealing with discipline issues, and principal training on teacher recruitment and retention are beginning to help stabilize the teaching staffs in high turnover schools.