Education

Improve Teacher Retention and Pay

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A teacher reads to a group of students at Andrew Hamilton school. A new report found that teachers in their first three years of teaching and teachers of color leave their jobs at higher rates than others. (Carly Sitrin/Chalkbeat)

Progress Updates

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14,000 Philly schools employees were supposed to get a raise by now. They’re still waiting.

(Inquirer) About 14,000 Philadelphia teachers, school nurses, counselors, paraprofessionals, and other school workers were supposed to get a 3% raise in September. The money never showed.

“While it was our hope to have your salary increases ready in time,” Oz Hill, the district’s deputy superintendent for operations, told employees in an email, “we are unable to meet this aggressive timeframe utilizing the new payroll system that was launched this year. Please accept our apology for this, and know that your payments will be made on October 24.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker wants to lower teacher attrition, in part to uphold educational quality and consistency for students in the Philadelphia School District. Here's some of what she's done so far on this front:

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atim Byrd (center), a teacher at Strawberry Mansion High School, discusses citywide efforts to attract and retain more teachers and teachers of color in Philadelphia. Kristen A. Graham / Staff
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philly officials want to recruit more teachers of color to address staffing shortage

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