This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Common Pleas Court Judge Idee Fox will hear arguments about the School District’s process for laying off over 1,600 teachers Friday morning in City Hall.
At issue is whether the District violated the seniority-based layoff system stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union by seeking to exempt almost 200 teachers in Promise Academies.
Not all Promise Academy teachers were exempted from layoffs, said Philadelphia Federation of Teacher (PFT) President Jerry Jordan on Tuesday. Those Promise Academy teachers who did receive pink slips were laid off because their school principals dropped their positions during the school budgeting process.
The District had sought to have the case moved to the Pennyslvania Supreme Court, but the justices there refused to hear arguments.