Climate managers fired, deputy superintendent hired
In a cost-cutting move, the Philadelphia School District this week laid off 33 managers whose primary responsibility was keeping order in schools and maintaining safety, eliciting criticism from teachers and union leaders.
The district also cut 17 nonteaching assistants who help maintain order and 11 other community-relations positions at schools throughout the city.
The climate managers, a relatively new response to persistent violence and disruption in the district, vary in effectiveness, and officials within the administration don't agree on the need to have them.
The cuts were made in the same week that Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman announced a new management position in naming Leroy Nunery to be her deputy superintendent. Nunery is paid $180,000 as the district's chief of institutional advancement and strategic partnerships; Ackerman said it had not been discussed whether his salary would change.
"I find it difficult to reconcile the hiring of a deputy superintendent at a time when 33 managers whose primary purpose in the schools was to establish a safe climate for the students and staff are being laid off," said Michael Lerner, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, the union that represents the managers and principals.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, also blasted the cuts.
"Kids need more adult attention and supervision now than ever," he said. "You're not going to be as successful in getting children to improve academically."
The climate manager position was established in 2006 under former schools chief Paul Vallas as a way to keep order in schools and help principals with other noninstructional concerns.
Of the 60, 33 were funded through the district's central budget; the other 27 were paid for through individual school
The district also cut 17 nonteaching assistants who help maintain order and 11 other community-relations positions at schools throughout the city.
The climate managers, a relatively new response to persistent violence and disruption in the district, vary in effectiveness, and officials within the administration don't agree on the need to have them.
The cuts were made in the same week that Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman announced a new management position in naming Leroy Nunery to be her deputy superintendent. Nunery is paid $180,000 as the district's chief of institutional advancement and strategic partnerships; Ackerman said it had not been discussed whether his salary would change.
"I find it difficult to reconcile the hiring of a deputy superintendent at a time when 33 managers whose primary purpose in the schools was to establish a safe climate for the students and staff are being laid off," said Michael Lerner, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, the union that represents the managers and principals.
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, also blasted the cuts.
"Kids need more adult attention and supervision now than ever," he said. "You're not going to be as successful in getting children to improve academically."
The climate manager position was established in 2006 under former schools chief Paul Vallas as a way to keep order in schools and help principals with other noninstructional concerns.
Of the 60, 33 were funded through the district's central budget; the other 27 were paid for through individual school
Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/20100611_Climate_managers_fired__deputy_superintendent_hired.html#ixzz0qeNcpK8J
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