Teacher shortage widens in Philadelphia

School started yesterday with 166 Philadelphia School District teaching jobs unfilled - more than double the number a year ago.

The number is about 1 percent of the 14,000 teacher spots districtwide, and officials attributed the spike to an increase in retirements and resignations.

Most of the vacancies are tough-to-fill jobs, such as science, math, middle school and bilingual education. Classes without permanent teachers will be covered by substitutes.

"This is a very low number," district spokesman Fernando Gallard said. "We have been as high as 200 before, so we're in a good place right now, and we hope to have that number cut in half by next week."

Hiring continues, he said, with candidates set to come in today and next week.

Gallard said that he was optimistic that major-subject and grade-level classroom jobs would be filled by next week, but that other spots could take longer.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said it was no surprise that vacancies were up.

"Your supply of teachers, particularly experienced teachers, is just less," he said. "And we're in competition with all of our suburban districts."

Philadelphia's starting salary, $39,914, ranks 50th among 64 districts in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

PFT members who work with district human-resources staff are reporting that gas prices are affecting staffing. Increasingly, they say, prospective teachers don't want to drive to schools far from their homes.

The union is negotiating a new contract with the district, and has extended its deadline to Oct. 31. Jordan said retirements and resignations were typically higher in contract years.

His preference is for every student to start a year with a permanent teacher, he said. "To have someone else come in a few weeks or a month later, that's the kind of instability that doesn't help teachers or kids."