PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The School District of Philadelphia says it will end the controversial practice of transferring teachers based on enrollment after the school year begins.
For years, the district has engaged in a practice known as “leveling” — moving teachers from school to school in October because actual enrollment didn’t match up with projections. Teachers, parents and students agreed that leveling was disruptive because it took dozens of teachers away from students who just got to know them.
Effective in the fall of 2024, the district will end leveling, Superintendent Tony Watlington announced Tuesday.
“I’m pleased to announce that we will discontinue the process of leveling in the School District of Philadelphia and stop the process of moving teachers after the school year begins,” Watlington said in a YouTube video.
To pay for the additional teachers needed, the district plans to use $8.8 million from central office cuts and energy savings, Watlington said. The cuts would not involve layoffs of current employees.
The decision to end leveling was made after hearing from students, parents, teachers and elected officials, Watlington said.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan hailed the move as “a sound one and a very welcome one.” Jordan, in a statement, said, “Every child in every school deserves a highly qualified, certified teacher from the first day of school. … To know that the District recognizes and appreciates the importance of a stable staff is significant.”
Robin Cooper, president of the principals union, the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, called the move “encouraging.”
“The key positive impact is that other schools will not be losing any teachers to schools with increasing enrollments, with the end result that all schools will remain or become whole,” she said in a statement.