School leaders in Philadelphia, like most everywhere, are currently so hamstrung by teacher contracts and union regulations that they have virtually no control over the hiring and firing of their own staff. In the City of Brotherly Love, however, help may be on the way. Under a new proposal put forward by district leaders, principals in schools that have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for several years will be allowed to gut their staff and, with the help of a committee of parents and teachers, select a new team of teachers. Unsurprisingly, many teachers feel threatened by the proposal, with high school teacher Lynn Dixon complaining that under the plan "you will get nothing but puppets and Stepford wives teaching your children. No one will stand up for themselves." Dixon goes on to criticize the plan for giving too much "power" to principals - ostensibly the leaders of the school. Though the local teachers' union is vigorously contesting the proposal, the city education commission may simply opt to impose it - a right that, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, was granted when the state took over the city's schools in 2001.
"Plan would let principals pick staff," by Susan Snyder, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 10, 2004