This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Four months after the much-heralded signing of a teacher’s contract that granted principals more power over teacher hiring, the School District of Philadelphia says teachers at 40 of its 276 schools have voted to be “site-selection” schools, opting into a school-based teacher-hiring process for filling all teacher vacancies.
And while the voting results – which concluded Dec. 23 – reflect four fewer schools whose teachers chose to implement site selection, the new labor agreement with the District stipulates a number of site-selection arrangements that will result in all schools having a stronger hand in determining their own teacher hires.
The committees consist of two teachers, a parent member of the Home and School Association, an assistant principal (where applicable), and the principal. The committee in effect “screens” candidates for the school’s principal, who makes the final hiring decision.
During contract negotiations last summer and fall, the District, with the backing of a number of education advocacy organizations, aggressively pursued site selection as a term for all schools.
School officials asserted that site selection helps strengthen leadership by giving principals more say over teacher hiring. Education advocates pushed for site selection as part of a package of reforms intended to improve teacher quality at high-poverty schools and schools serving predominantly students of color.
Site selection in Philadelphia schools began in 2001, with 15 schools. The number of schools voting for 100 percent site selection has increased every year since then, save for this year. The 40 schools that voted to participate, as determined by a two-thirds majority vote of teachers at a particular school, include about three-fourths of last year’s 44 participants.
Meg Wise, Director of Scholars and Civic Engagement for the Philadelphia Education Fund, said she’d wished more schools had voted to implement site selection, and said the results should be viewed as an opportunity to look at whether schools need supports in making the process work.
Meanwhile Jerry Jordan, vice president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, offered, “For the first time, as a result of the negotiations, all schools, not just some but every school in the School District will have site selection. And as a result of that, I think schools made decisions based on their needs and their desires for at which level they wanted to be involved in (hiring decisions)”
“People are just waiting to see how it works,” he added. “It’s a large undertaking for the District this year.”
The District has estimated that the expanded site selection process places teacher-hiring decisions in the hands of schools and principals for 75 to 80 percent of all teacher hires.
Aside from schools that voted to implement full site selection, those that will fully participate in the process include three “demonstration” schools and 10 of 25 “Incentive Schools,” jointly decided upon by the District and the union, according to the terms of the District contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers The contract, signed Oct. 15, was recently posted on the union’s web site.
It stipulates that site-selection be implemented for all newly hired teachers and for any retired teachers returning to service. Newly built schools will be staffed by the principal through site-selection for the first two years.
“Transition schools” — a label assigned to schools that are adding new grades for the first time, converting from middle to high schools, or operating as smaller schools that separated from larger high schools that are new or being reconfigured – operate as 100-percent site-selection schools during their year (and grades) of transition.
Finally, even in schools that do not vote for it, site selection must be implemented for 50 percent of vacant positions, according to the contract summary. The remaining positions at schools without 100 percent site selection are to be filled by teachers based on seniority status.
PFT Vice President Jerry Jordan said a list of “transition schools” had not been made available to the union.
“Once the District begins with the budget cycle, then they’re likely to determine what the organization is to be for each of these schools,” Jordan offered. “Because it has to be determined prior to the school getting its budget, that will probably hit around March.”
Below are the schools implementing 100-percent site selection by vote, by “demonstration” or “Incentive School” status:
By vote: AMY James Martin, Audenried, Barton, Bartram Business, Blankenburg, Bluford, Bodine, H.A. Brown, Central East, Clemente, Cooke, Daroff, A.B. Day, Dobson, Franklin Elementary, Franklin Learning Center, Henry, Key, King, Lea, Lingelbach, Logan, Lowell, Meade, Meredith, McClure, Nebinger, Olney Elementary, Overbrook Elementary, Peirce Middle, Penn Alexander, Pennypacker, Philadelphia Regional, Pollock, Pratt, Rhoads, M.H. Stanton, Welsh.
“Demonstration schools”: Dunbar, Hancock, Masterman
“Incentive Schools”: Barratt, FitzSimons, Gillespie, Penn Treaty, Shaw, Shoemaker, Stetson, Sulzberger, Tilden, Turner.