To the Editor:
I was stunned to read in “Leader in Phila. Seeks Changes in Teacher Rules” (Sept. 2, 2009) that the Philadelphia school district is proposing to assign teachers who have been successful in raising student achievement to the city’s hardest-to-staff schools.
Because I do not teach in an urban setting, and most of my 17 years of teaching have been spent in suburban schools, I can’t speak from personal experience. But it occurs to me that for those teaching in one of the “better” urban schools who know that this proposal is on the table, there would be little incentive to raise student achievement. In fact, they would be wise to do all they could to stay under the radar, so as not to be involuntarily transferred.
Edward Borgen
Elementary School Teacher
Pine-Richland School District
Wexford, Pa
