PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council on Tuesday heard how neighborhood safety issues are affecting the School District of Philadelphia teacher shortage. The Board of Education’s conversation with Council members came on the day an Overbrook High School student was shot on the way to school.
Board Vice President Mallory Fix-Lopez told City Council that gun violence and drug use outside schools have become an issue for teachers, mentioning one school in Kensington as an example.
“They’ve recently changed their name [to Gloria Casarez], but Sheridan Elementary is losing staff, in a difficult-to-staff school,” said Fix-Lopez. “Teachers say, ‘There’s no place for me to park. I do not feel safe taking public transportation.’”
“That is a battle,” Fix-Lopez adds, “that the school district is not able to solve.”
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“If your teachers are scared, how do you think my kids feel?” asked Councilmember Jim Harrity, who lives in Kensington.
During Council’s biannual hearing on the district, Mayor Kenney suggested an offsite solution.
“I’m wondering if there’s some pilot programs we could do with remote parking and transportation to the school,” said Kenney.
“Maybe there’s some remote parking area that we could have teachers park safely, and then they all get on a bus and they go to school.”
Fix-Lopez said she appreciated the suggestion, but did not see a way forward with it.
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“The problem is, we do not have resources and a budget to even try a pilot,” she said.
Council President Darrell Clarke said realistically, finding remote parking for every school would be a major challenge.
“I’m not going to sit here and give you a scenario where it’s going to be an easy fix,” he said. “It’s just not.”
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Fix-Lopez noted that the district asked Council for help last year.
“If we can’t figure out parking for public school teachers,” she said, “I feel that we’re doomed as a city and we’re not going to be able to figure out public education.”
Entering the 2022-2023 school year, the district had a shortage of more than 200 teachers.