School & District Management

Community Groups Turn Up Heat on Philadelphia Contract Talks

November 03, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

While school district leaders and teachers’ union officials in Philadelphia remain at the negotiating table to hammer out a new, multiyear contract, local community organizations are ramping up the pressure on both sides to deliver key reforms that they believe are necessary to transform the quality of the city’s teaching corps.

A new contract for Philadelphia is expected at the end of this month, after two extensions.

The effort to improve teacher quality is called “Effective Teaching for All Children: What It Will Take,” and its advocates are pushing to overhaul the district’s teacher-evaluation system, assign the best teachers to the neediest schools, and to grant principals and their teams full authority over hiring, among other changes. All of these are policy changes that Arlene C. Ackerman, Philadelphia’s superintendent, has pledged to demand from the union.

To help make the case for scrapping Philly’s teacher-evaluation system, Research for Action, a member of the quality-teaching campaign, put out this new pamphlet that’s meant to illuminate its flaws. It highlights things like the single classroom observations per year for tenured teachers, and two observations for those with less than three years on the job as the basis for whether they are rated satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

Betsey Useem, a researcher for Research for Action, told District Dossier that the campaign recently sent thousands of signed postcards urging changes to Ackerman, Jerry Jordan, the president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and Michael Nutter, the city’s mayor.

And later this week, the group will also sit down with the Accountability Review Council to push that independent body to include teacher-quality metrics in its annual evaluations of the Philadelphia school system.

While teacher quality has become the issue in the current school reform conversation, it’s been on the agenda of these Philly community groups for several years. The last time the union and the school district negotiated a new contract, in 2004, the groups called for many of the same changes they are seeking now.

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management How Principals Can Boost Teacher Morale
Principals share advice for how they support teachers during uncertain times.
4 min read
Vector illustration of a large handing holding an open book with silhouetted women and men standing on the pages of the open book.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion Denver Superintendent: Why We Sued the Federal Government
Education leaders shouldn't remain apolitical in the face of immigration enforcement changes and other threats from the Trump administration.
Alex Marrero
6 min read
Human hands created secure environment for children via home roof gesture. Adults taking care of vulnerable students.
Mary Long/iStock + Education Week
School & District Management Food and Massage Coupons: How Principals Signal Their Appreciation for Teachers
Small gestures can go a long way this Teacher Appreciation Week.
5 min read
Image of a notebook page with "THANK YOU TEACHER" written with some doodles and smiley faces.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion How to Be a Focused Leader When There’s a Lot of Noise
Burnout, attrition, absenteeism, and disengagement are key issues for schools. Here's a path forward for educators.
3 min read
Screen Shot 2025 04 29 at 6.54.09 AM
Canva