Penn Alexander School commended by district

Earlier this week, educators from around the city -- including Paul Vallas, CEO of the School District of Philadelphia -- gathered to celebrate and promote a special method of hiring teachers that they hope will gain a greater foothold among area schools.

Called site-based selection, the hiring method allows individual schools to form committees to review teacher applicants and choose their own employees.

"I do want to thank you for being pioneers," Vallas said in his comments to the teachers and principals who were present at the celebration.

"Having the ability to select staff is something that really has to be done."

Among the 44 Philadelphia public schools recognized for adopting the practice was the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School.

The Alexander School, which hosts grades pre-kindergarten through 8, was founded by Penn, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the Philadelphia school district in September 2002.

The ceremony, honoring schools like Alexander that have adopted site-based selection, was hosted by The Philadelphia Education Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the scholastic experiences of Philadelphia youth, and was underwritten by corporate partner IBM.

"Like any other employer, schools should have a say over who their workers are," said Elizabeth Useem, a nationally known education researcher.

"We just think that's common sense," she added.

For years, Philadelphia has lagged behind the rest of the nation in adopting the method.

"Philadelphia is about the only school district that has not implemented site-based selection for all schools," said Meg Wise, director of Civic Engagement at PEF. "230 teacher assignments are based on seniority."

The traditional method for hiring Philadelphia public school teachers gave precedence to those teachers who had been with the school district for the longest time, allowing them first choice of their place of employment. Newer teachers were given subsequent pick from the remaining locations. Whichever location a teacher chose became his or her place of employment.

Both methods are currently allowed, but site-based selection requires an opt-in yearly vote from school administrators -- a sometimes vague and confusing process.

Forty-four schools in the city, including the Penn-assisted Sadie Alexander School, have already voluntarily adopted the practice.

And despite general approval of site-based selection, there has been tension between supporters of the practice and some members of teacher unions, who generally favor the seniority-based method.

There is also criticism stemming from administrators who find site-based selection difficult to comply with in practice because of the hiring deadlines it sets for schools.

"When it works, it is absolutely fine, but if you don't know your timeline, you may go through the process for absolutely no reason if vacancies don't become available in time," said Stuart Cooperstein, principal of the William M. Meredith school

Other school officials were similarly divided.

"I understand the union's policy in terms of seniority, but we need to recognize the situation of education of organization and that, in order to be competitive, we need to attract the best and the brightest," said Harris Lewin, the Northeast regional superintendent.

Vallas noted the concerns raised by faculty and administrators, and is planning an upcoming meeting to address them.

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