Philly schools' new subs contract criticized, cheered

Now that the Philadelphia School District is parting ways with substitutes contractor Source4Teachers, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan isn't exactly saying, "I told you so."

But he notes that he predicted last fall that the Cherry Hill firm would be unable to deliver on its pledge to fill 75 percent of the positions that were vacant on the first day of school and 90 percent by Jan. 1.

Yet Jordan opposes the district's proposal to replace Source4Teachers with another company. He believes the district can do a better job of providing substitutes at a fraction of the cost.

"This is another outsourcing experiment," Jordan said Friday. "If you do the arithmetic, you will see it is a substantial amount of money. The School District can manage this in house much more cheaply."

The School Reform Commission is expected to vote May 19 on a proposed contract with Kelly Services to take over placement of substitutes in the fall.

A draft of the resolution said that Kelly, based in Troy, Mich., could be paid up to $21 million per year. The exact amount would be based on the number of substitutes the company provides.

"In light of the unmitigated fiasco that is Source4Teachers, the district's plan to repeat the same failed experiment with Kelly Services is absolutely mind-boggling," Jordan said.

District officials said Thursday that they and Source4Teachers had agreed to end their two-year contract on June 30 after one year.

According to district spokesman Fernando Gallard, the company supplied 53 percent of the substitutes to cover classrooms on April 29, and had averaged a 49 percent to 50 percent "fill rate" in recent months. The rate had been 20 percent in October.

A spokesman for Source4Teachers said the firm had improved its fill rate to 57 percent this week and was gaining momentum.

Although the contract called for the district to pay that company up to $17 million per year for substitutes, Gallard said the district had paid just under $6 million through April because the amount was tied to the number of positions filled.

Kelly was not one of the companies that applied for the contract last year.

Gallard said Kelly was among additional providers the district found when it made further inquiries recently.

He said no competitive bids were sought before recommending Kelly because professional service contracts do not require that.

City Councilwoman Helen Gym said it appeared the proposal was "another no-bid contract that was developed behind closed doors."

Gym said it was not clear whether the district had learned from its experience with Source4Teachers, which led to substitute shortages across the district.

"This is a serious issue," she said. "Whether a teacher is out for two days or two weeks, that is important to our young people."

Gallard said district officials had recommended contracting an outside company to handle substitutes because the district's fill rate had fallen to a daily average of 55 percent to 60 percent in 2014-15.

He said the district calculated that if it continued to oversee substitutes, it would cost more than $27 million a year to reach a 90 percent fill rate.

Source4Teachers was expected to provide that rate at a lower cost. But the company never approached the mark it had promised.

Gallard said the $21 million that Kelly could collect reflected that it would provide more services and had a record of topping 90 percent in other districts.

The higher amount also stems from the fact that Kelly would pay substitutes more than Source4Teachers. Kelly plans to pay $160 a day for certified teachers and $126 per day for substitutes who are not certified. Those rates are the same that the district paid before it contracted with Source4Teachers.

The proposed higher rates caused a stir among substitutes Friday.

"It's almost double," said Robert Barthelmeh, 64, a retired health and physical education teacher, who is paid $90 per day by Source4Teachers. "This has created quite a buzz."

When he retired from Central High School in 2012 after 40 years in the city schools, Barthelmeh said, the district was not accepting more retirees as substitutes because of pressure from the state teachers' retirement system.

When he signed up with Source4Teachers last October, he thought he would be eligible for $160 per day, and was amazed to find out that rate applied only to those who were in the district's existing substitute pool.

He said he believes higher rates will attract more substitutes.

"When you come into Philadelphia to sub, you're facing certain challenges," Barthelmeh said. "You cannot attract certified people at a low rate.

"Hopefully," he said, "this will help the students."

martha.woodall@phillynews.com215-854-2789@marwooda