PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Teachers say many of the city’s criteria-based schools are facing staff reductions next year because the School District of Philadelphia’s new admissions lottery has resulted in drops in enrollment. The school district, though, says no decisions on transfers or layoffs for next year have been made.
Students and teachers rallied outside Franklin Learning Center in Spring Garden on Monday morning, chanting “Stop the cuts.”
The lottery was designed to promote equity at its 39 special-admission schools. Preference is given to students from historically underrepresented ZIP codes for the Masterman, Central, Palumbo and Carver high schools. However, teachers at magnets including FLC say those strict placement standards leave no leeway for students who were just short of having sufficient PSSA scores or attendance, but who may have had extenuating circumstances.
FLC teacher Jessica Way says that has led to 50 fewer seats filled at her school next year, so FLC is looking at cutting nine teachers.
“I worry that we’re going to have to look at cutting programs, as some other schools are starting to consider they might have to do,” Way said. “This is an issue with special-admissions schools across the district.”
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FLC graphic design teacher Andres Gonzalez said his job would be one of those eliminated next year.
“The teachers didn’t do anything wrong, but we’re the ones that are suffering because of the school district’s decision,” Gonzalez said.
“I don’t think there’s an overarching evil plot,” Way said. “But there is a problem. So why don’t we fix it? We’ve got parents across the district dying for their children to get into these schools — so let’s get them in here and fill the seats.”
Monique Braxton, the school district’s deputy chief of communications, said in a statement that the district is seeing previously unidentified issues in its school-selection process — including how limited the space is at some of the district’s most-desired schools, and how few students applying to the district’s criteria-based schools actually meet the criteria. The district is also seeing more students opting to attend neighborhood schools, Braxton said.