Philadelphia Federation of Teachers School District of Philadelphia

SiDe letterS
the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federation of
teachers hereby agree to the following side letters:
Teacher Vacancies
The School District will use its best efforts to fill vacancies as promptly as
possible.
Teacher Recruitment
In the event the School District has been unable to recruit and/or hire a sufficient
number of certified teachers to fill existing vacancies in areas of critical
need through the normal hiring, posting and transfer processes by June 1, the
School District may enter into contracts with outside providers to provide services
which would otherwise be filled by bargaining unit members. Except in circumstances
of unanticipated vacancies, the Federation shall be provided with no less
than three (3) months’ prior written notice of any decision to utilize any outside
providers.
The School District shall use its best efforts to fill such vacancies through the
normal hiring, transfer and job posting processes. The School District will continue
its effort to recruit in shortage areas.
Ordinarily an outside provider may be utilized to fill a vacancy in any location
for two (2) school years. The Federation-District Committee shall meet in February
2002 and in February of each subsequent year to evaluate whether a
vacancy(ies) in critical needs areas can be addressed effectively by means other
than renewal of a contract(s) with an outside provider(s). The Federation-District
Committee will also consider ways to fill chronic vacancies permanently. Absent
a concrete and reasonable basis for concluding that the vacancy(ies) can be filled
for the following school year through the normal recruitment, hiring, transfer
and job posting processes, the School District may contract for up to an additional
two (2) years. A contract renewal shall be for only one (1) year if there is a concrete
and reasonable basis to conclude that the vacancy(ies) can be filled through
normal processes in less than two (2) years.
Teachers assigned by the School District pursuant to this agreement shall be
considered as employees of the outside provider(s), shall not be considered as
members of the school faculty or staff, and shall not be available for any other
school duties.
Professional Development for New Teachers
All newly hired teachers shall receive two (2) days of professional development
at their school. Those teachers who receive their two (2) days of professional
development during the summer, shall be paid at the professional development
rate. New teachers hired after September 1st will be paid at their daily rate of
pay for their professional development.
Special Education Exceptionalities
The following will apply to Special Education Teachers:
In recognition of the vast differences between the exceptionalities, the teacher’s
approval will be required in order to change the teacher’s assignment to a dif-
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