WHEREAS, The Philadelphia School District has attempted to impose a residency requirements due to court challenges, state legislation and resistance from administrators, teachers, and other support staff; and
WHEREAS, There are currently many staff vacancies within the Philadelphia School District. In addition, other staffers are at or near retirement. As such, there is a certainty that more vacancies will exist in the future; and
WHEREAS, Surveys taken of qualified teachers who choose not to teach in Philadelphia list the residency requirement as a major reason as to why applications to teach in Philadelphia are not made; and
WHEREAS, The salaries of Philadelphia teachers and administrators have fallen over time from among the highest in Southeastern Pennsylvania to among the lowest, greatly reducing the attractiveness to new teachers of a career with the Philadelphia School District; and
WHEREAS, Fiscal problems in the City of Philadelphia make it difficult for the School District to become more competitive in compensation with suburban school districts; and
WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia has already extended a three year waiver to newly hired teachers and paid bonuses in order to attract suburban residents to teaching careers in the School District of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, The School District has greatly increased its recruiting budget and has broadened its recruitment efforts to include foreign countries and other states; now therefore
RESOLVED, That the Education Committee hold public hearings to examine the impact of residency requirements on both current and prospective teachers and administrators within the School district of Philadelphia.
End