If the superintendent gets her way, come September Philadelphia public schoolteachers will have longer days and less say over where they work.
Schools chief Arlene Ackerman also wants merit pay for successful teachers, and principals to have full control over who fills vacant teaching jobs, of which there could be up to 1,800 in September.
"This year, we have to negotiate some serious changes," Ackerman said yesterday during a wide-ranging hour-long interview with the Inquirer Editorial Board.
The contract of the 16,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers expires Aug. 31. Ackerman said a new pact must advance her reform agenda for the city's 167,000 public schoolchildren, half of whom cannot read or do math at grade level.
Ackerman also said she believed the School Reform Commission should consider bypassing the union on some issues. Under the 2001 takeover law that gave the state broad powers over Philadelphia schools, the commission can act unilaterally on issues such as the transfer of teachers.
"When we have failing schools, why are we negotiating?" Ackerman said.
The superintendent has largely kept quiet about her wishes for this year's contract, but she opened up yesterday, expressing frustration with the district's largest union and things she said had been "contractually given away" over the years.
At 7.04 hours, Philadelphia's school day is 24 minutes shorter than the state average of 7.50 hours, and that violates state law, she said. Ackerman said she was unsure why the district had not been cited by the Department of Education.
"That's a lot of instructional minutes for kids who can least afford to have less time with a teacher," Ackerman said. "It just makes common sense to me that if you are a district, and you're struggling, and half your children are struggling, you don't give them less time."
PFT president Jerry Jordan dismissed Ackerman's assertions.
"I believe that a longer day is not a better day for kids," Jordan said. More important, he said, were high-quality instruction and enriching after-school activities.
Ackerman also said she needed broad flexibility to move teachers around the district, which has 267 schools. Like many urban districts, Philadelphia struggles with high turnover and more new teachers at its neediest schools.
The union contract prohibits administrators from moving teachers, and schools most often fill teaching vacancies by seniority.
Ackerman likes the site-selection model currently used by some district schools, under which a principal and school-based selection committee have the power to interview teachers and pick whomever they want to hire, regardless of experience.
But for schools to use site-selection, two-thirds of the faculty must vote every year for the model.
Merit pay also will be an issue, Ackerman signaled. Since she arrived in Philadelphia, she has said that teachers who produce stellar results or work in hard-to-staff areas should be paid like specialists.
Ackerman has criticized teachers in recent weeks, saying she believes more should be rated unsatisfactory, disciplined, or fired. She echoed that theme yesterday.
"This is a system where there has been little to no accountability for adults. We're losing almost half of our kids. I'm not blaming the children. As professionals, we have to take responsibility for it," the superintendent said.
Jordan said that merit pay was tough to administer fairly, that it would be folly to assume that new teachers were not talented enough to work in tough schools, and that the current combination of site selection and seniority ensured a good mix of new and experienced teachers.
Ackerman also wants to force retiring teachers to give the district more notice of their plans to leave so she is not left scrambling to fill vacancies or use long-term substitutes to cover classes. Now, she said, little notice is required.
Jordan and Ackerman agree on one issue - it's going to be a long summer of talks.
"I've never, ever experienced negotiations that were easy," said Jordan, asserting that Ackerman had not even addressed the salary and benefit issues crucial to his members.
Ackerman also addressed the pressure-to-pass issue detailed in The Inquirer. Teachers at schools around the district have said they feel pushed to pass along students who don't deserve it, even those who rarely attend class and don't do any work.
While Ackerman has emphatically disavowed the practice, she said she stood behind the extensive documentation currently needed to fail district students. Many teachers say it is designed to discourage them from failing anyone.
"There has to be some kind of documentation for any child who got a failing grade," Ackerman said. "Why would a good teacher be afraid of it? Why wouldn't they be doing it?"
She said she knew she had ruffled feathers, but said that was why she came to Philadelphia.
"I didn't come to win a popularity contest," she said. "I think I represent change, and change is difficult."
Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.
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