The Notebook

Stories tagged: school staff

Must teachers toe the line?

Posted in February 2012 Edition | Permalink

It is very sad for me to read the article "Nothing worth saving?" in the October edition of the Notebook. This is but another example of a good teacher being ousted in favor of "the process" that is supposed to lead to better and more grand things for education. The sad thing is that this story represents so very much the state of public education in the country and especially urban areas.

PFT files complaint about untrained personnel dispensing medication

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Wed, 02/01/2012 - 17:44 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

UPDATE: District statement

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is alleging that the School District is violating the school code and endangering children because it has ordered untrained school personnel to administer medication in the absence of nurses.

The District laid off 47 nurses in December, and the ratio of student-to-nurse now exceeds the recommended ideal. As a result, many schools have nurses on site only one or two days a week.

Protesters continue Occupy 440 movement

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 20:10 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

The intrepid band of protesters was undeterred by the cold.

For nearly an hour Wednesday afternoon in below-freezing temperatures, they carried signs and listened to speakers decry budget cuts and layoffs at the School District, especially the termination of 47 school nurses.

Film 'American Teacher' gives inside look into classroom

Submitted by Avi Wolfman-Arent on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 17:50 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

American Teacher, the high-profile documentary that profiles four teachers and their everyday travails, will air at WHYY’s Hamilton Media Commons on Wednesday, November 9.

Hosted by Need in Deed, a local nonprofit dedicated to developing service-learning curricula, the screening will culminate with a panel discussion.

Fight is on to restore budget cuts, but they may get worse

by Paul Socolar Posted in Summer 2011 Edition | Permalink

A year ago, some warned of an impending "tsunami" in the 2011 budget process when the School District would be buffeted by the loss of federal stimulus dollars and by rising costs.

The tsunami is here.

The District has prepared a budget that eliminates more than 3,800 positions – nearly one of every six jobs in the system.

According to this May draft budget, spending must be reduced $428 million, or 13 percent.

Where the cuts go deepest

Posted in Summer 2011 Edition | Permalink

Budget cuts would eliminate all funding for:

Class size reduction in grades 6, 8, 9
Common planning time in neighborhood high schools
Extended day
Reading Recovery in empowerment schools
Empowerment support teachers

Other programs facing deep reductions:

Special education liaisons – 77% cut
In-school suspension programs – 62%

Reaction from Roosevelt on cheating story

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 05/02/2011 - 18:38 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Patrick Cobbs

Emotions were high for parents and teachers at Theodore Roosevelt Middle School in Germantown as they faced the first school day after allegations of test manipulation came to light over the weekend.

Teachers interviewed were split about the allegations in the Sunday Inquirer article. One said he didn't believe that the school principal and some teachers conspired to cheat on state PSSA tests, and that the charges were intended to make the school staff look bad. But another teacher said he thought the article was accurate. Neither teacher was willing to be quoted by name.

The Inquirer article cited several Roosevelt teachers who said school leaders encouraged teachers and students to review PSSA test materials days before the test was to be given, in violation of test taking rules. Teachers wrote answers to questions on blackboards and students were seen carrying test booklets prior to the test period, according to the article.

This story continues on the NewsWorks website; it is a product of a reporting collaboration between the Notebook and WHYY.

SRC to vote on changing rules for layoffs of non-union employees

Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 11:16 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

One item on today's School Reform Commission agenda is a resolution that will repeal some job protections for non-unionized employees.

In part, it reads:

Negotiating the high school admissions maze

Submitted by Frank Murphy on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 16:07 Posted in Class notes | Permalink

In 2005, when Meade School’s first 8th grade class moved up to high school, less than 10 percent of those students were accepted to schools other than their neighborhood high school. This was a disappointing result for the many students who had sought admission to special admission schools. It was also disappointing for our teachers. Our staff decided that this was not an acceptable outcome. We resolved to do better in future years.

Lessons on school reform from Chicago: Like baking a cake

Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Mon, 10/18/2010 - 13:38 | Permalink

Penny Bender Sebring and her colleagues at the Consortium on Chicago School Research have been studying school reform in the Windy City since the 1980s. Last month at a symposium sponsored by the Public Interest Law Center she drew out some of the lessons of decades of exhaustive research, aided by panelists Deborah Meier and Torch Lytle.