- Merlino says family punished for others' mob ties
- Camden County judge seriously hurt in bike accident
- Reader: Racism underlies rage at Obama
- Open call for canine stars
- 5 area schools win U.S. Blue Ribbon honors
- New Pa. public-records law: lots of requests ... & lawsuits
- Will Madoff portrait make ex-con rich?
- Activists drawn by Obama's visit
- Housing Authority relents, won't evict ailing woman, 78
- ACORN shows 'pimp' and 'pro' the door here
- Obama in Philly, fundraising for Sen. Arlen Specter
- Blockbuster may shutter 960 stores
- SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore!
RELATED STORIES
Phila. union president says teacher morale 'very low'
Battered by tough talk and finger-pointing from the school superintendent, Philadelphia teacher morale is "very low" - a potential impediment in negotiating a new contract by Aug. 31, their union president said yesterday.
In recent weeks, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has come out swinging against district teachers. She has said more of them should be disciplined and fired, and has called for a longer school day, merit pay, and other measures opposed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
"They're very suspicious, and feel that things are being done to them instead of with them," union president Jerry Jordan said in an interview with The Inquirer Editorial Board. Reforms that require contractual changes, he added, are less palatable now, given the anger among the PFT's 16,000 teachers, librarians, counselors, and other professionals.
Still, Jordan expressed optimism that a fair contract could be hammered out, and characterized talks with the district as "very professional."
Ackerman has said she wants to effect real reform, not win a popularity contest. In the face of her sometimes stinging critiques of faculty, Jordan said, he has tried to remain even-tempered.
"I'm not a person who screams and yells and bangs my hand on the table," Jordan said.
He suggested that the administration should more consistently communicate with the union. Ackerman did solicit the union's help in designing her Imagine 2014 strategic plan. However, Jordan said, her administration has ruffled feathers by failing to consult him and other union officials on some issues.
"Too often," he said, "I think things happen because of the failure to just pick up the phone and call."
At yesterday's session, Jordan also called on Ackerman to develop better teacher training and work on support systems to boost teacher retention, which is particularly problematic at the lowest-performing schools.
Although he opposes more instructional time - "a longer day is not necessarily a better day" - Jordan acknowledged that under the PFT contract and state takeover law, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission must enforce a school day no shorter than the statewide average.
Ackerman has complained that Philadelphia's day, at 7.04 hours, is 24 minutes shorter than the state average of 7.5 hours - an assertion that Harrisburg has not yet confirmed.
If the state says Philadelphia's day is too short, "I can't say I would violate the law," Jordan said.
He said merit pay, which Ackerman has endorsed, had proven tough to implement in other districts. Whole-school merit pay, which rewards good results by an entire faculty with bigger budgets, is more acceptable, he said, than giving individual teachers bonuses for student achievement.
"It's a matter of being equitable and being fair to all teachers," he said, adding that if state tests were the determinant of progress, some specialty teachers and early-grade teachers wouldn't be eligible for merit pay.
Teachers, Jordan said, would favor whole-school incentives rather than money in their own pockets because "they would rather have more materials and other things for children."
Working conditions - having enough books and supplies, social supports, and safety measures - are more important to teachers than money, he said.
Jordan and Dee Phillips, a PFT vice president who accompanied him yesterday, described most of their members as skilled, dedicated teachers, but agreed with Ackerman that some were ill-suited to urban classrooms.
"We do have some who this is not the job for them," Phillips said, "and we have to counsel them out of teaching."
A long-term concern among PFT members is training, which Jordan and Phillips characterized as "unfocused" and not targeted to specific schools' and teachers' needs.
Better training, along with evaluations focused more on strengthening teachers' skills than on disciplining them, would help lower teacher turnover, they said.
"We would like to see such strong professional development for the new teachers that by the time they are tenured in this state, they are exemplary," Phillips said. "We want to cultivate great teachers."
The PFT wants a peer-review system in which master teachers mentor new teachers. The district has not yet responded to the union's proposal.
Some teachers have expressed frustration that many students come to them with enormous challenges at home, but schools must educate every child in their classrooms, Phillips said.
"They're ours," she said, "and we take them where they are, and we bring them along."
Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.
MOST POPULAR PHILLY.COM PHOTOS
today's 
