With negotiations ongoing, Hite adds factors for teacher recall and assignment
by Dale Mezzacappa on Oct 16 2013 Posted in Latest news
Among the items that Superintendent William Hite included in this week's "status report" to state officials that preceded the release of a $45 million state grant was an explanation of how seniority is no longer the sole factor in determining where teachers are assigned.
"For the 2013-14 school year, the primary factor in making assignment and transfer decisions -- including decisions about recall from lay-off -- has been and will be the best interests of the students and the school's educational program," the superintendent's letter to acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq said. "Seniority will be among the relevant factors considered, but not the sole factor. For example, when restoring teacher, counselor, and secretarial positions in preparation for school opening this fall, decisions were driven by the best interests of school communities, including the need to have staff who are invested in the schools in which they were working."
Both Hite and state officials said this was only one of many factors that led to Gov. Corbett's decision to release $45 million in state funds Wednesday. But this hot-button issue, as well as others involving longstanding rules and working conditions, is a major point of contention in the ongoing negotiations between the District and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The District has long sought to mute the impact of seniority, which gives teachers the right to choose their job at the expense, many say, of allowing a school's leadership to build its own team.
What is happening now is that the District is, in effect, dictating terms on the teachers while at the same time negotiating with the union for a new agreement.
Hite said at a press conference that when the District moves teachers around -- after layoffs or as part of the so-called "leveling" process now underway -- the
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Notes from the news, Oct. 17
With negotiations ongoing, Hite adds factors for teacher recall and assignment. Notebook Corbett to release $45 million that Pa. has been withholding; 400 jobs to be restored. Notebook Corbett releases funds to Philly schools, Nutter says not enough. NewsWorks Gov. Corbett releases funding for city schools. Inquirer State grant will bring back 400 school employees. Daily News Hite imposes work rul