Report Urges End To Automatic Teacher Tenure In Philadelphia Public Schools
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new study says Philadelphia could do a better job of hiring and evaluating its public school teachers.
The report by the National Council on Teacher Quality comes at a time when the district is negotiating a new contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
The NCTQ report finds that Philadelphia principals often have little say over where teachers are placed, and that few teachers are fired for incompetency.
Lead author Nancy Waymack says the report recommends that tenure be granted as a reward for effectiveness.
"Tenure shouldn't be something that just happens automatically," she tells KYW Newsradio. "It should be a signal that a teacher is performing really well."
Read The Entire 80-Page Report (.pdf format)
Many of the recommendations would require the consent of the teachers' union or changes in Pennsylvania state law.
The report was commissioned by the Philadelphia Education Fund and the Philadelphia School Partnership.
"Schools have changed a lot in the last 20 to 30 years," says Mark Gleason, PSP's executive director, "but teachers' contracts have not."
