PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With less than a month and a half before the start of the new school year, many Philly teachers still don’t know what schools they should report to.
While promises of city funding last month saved 340 classroom positions, many of those teachers are being shuffled to different schools. According to Philadelphia Teachers Union Chief of Staff LaShawna Coleman, communication from the school district has left staffers confused and frustrated, unsure of what grades or subjects they will be teaching and unable to prepare.
Coleman said the district also didn’t give a clear list of vacancies at schools during Zoom meetings with teachers this week.
“Some teachers were told, ‘You’re going back,’ and they didn’t choose to go back,” she recounted. “Some teachers were told, ‘You’re not going back,’ when they said, ‘Hey, I asked to go back to my school.’”
The process of matching teachers with schools is usually completed by June, though Superintendent Tony Watlington maintains administrators are moving as fast as possible. He said in a statement to KYW Newsradio that as of Wednesday night, 92% of teacher positions for the fall are filled — six points ahead of the district’s pace at the same time last year.
Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district is ahead of last year’s pace for teacher placement.
Superintendent Tony Watlington said the district is ahead of last year’s pace for teacher placement.
