Adjudicating School Reform:
"The new policies, which the district plans to fully implement by next year, include eliminating seniority from hiring decisions, revising the teacher evaluation system, and offering financial incentives to teachers in low-performing schools. These reforms may be unpopular with some teachers and principals—though eventually all of Philly’s educators did show up for work—but they are the types of policies that are needed to ensure every student has access to an effective teacher."
Philadelphia’s new policies are remarkable for another reason—the district is required to implement the changes as part of a consent agreement that ends a 39-year old desegregation lawsuit. That suit, filed by the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission, alleged that Philadelphia schools were unlawfully segregated by race and denied minority students educational opportunities equal to white students. The parties agreed to end the lawsuit in July.
"The new policies, which the district plans to fully implement by next year, include eliminating seniority from hiring decisions, revising the teacher evaluation system, and offering financial incentives to teachers in low-performing schools. These reforms may be unpopular with some teachers and principals—though eventually all of Philly’s educators did show up for work—but they are the types of policies that are needed to ensure every student has access to an effective teacher."
Philadelphia’s new policies are remarkable for another reason—the district is required to implement the changes as part of a consent agreement that ends a 39-year old desegregation lawsuit. That suit, filed by the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission, alleged that Philadelphia schools were unlawfully segregated by race and denied minority students educational opportunities equal to white students. The parties agreed to end the lawsuit in July.