Protesters rally at Vare-Washington over loss of teachers, services
by thenotebook on Oct 23 2013 Posted in Latest news
Photo: Isaac Riddle
Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, addresses a crowd of protesters at Vare-Washington Elementary.
by Isaac Riddle
About 50 parents, teachers, students, and community members joined Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan in a protest about budget cuts outside of Vare-Washington Elementary School Wednesday afternoon.
The group gathered to voice concerns over the latest loss of programs and services at the South Philadelphia school and to talk about the impact the District’s leveling efforts will have on a school already hurting from staffing shortages brought on by districtwide budget cuts.
With leveling, every Fall the District aligns staffing projections with actual student enrollment. This often means having to shuffle teaching staff from one school to another to keep student-to-teacher ratios in line with contract requirements. With the District in the middle of a funding crisis, leveling has become a potentially devasting process for many schools in need of every available staffer.
Protesters at Vare-Washington said as a result of leveling -- which the District is expected to complete next week -- the school anticipates the loss of six teachers, a
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