Getting Hired

The hiring process for teachers in Philadelphia is complicated, and [in my current state of cynicism I believe that] Teach for America complicates it even more.

Due to its poor performance, the School District of Philadelphia was taken over by the state in 2001 and is now governed by the appointed five-member School Reform Commission. The head of the Commission is its CEO. Among other resonsibilities, the Commission was given the authority to reform the teaching staff, hire for-profit firms to run schools, and convert some schools to charter schools. The district is now comprised of regular public schools, EMO (educational management organization) schools, and charter schools. The verdict is still out on whether this reform is succeeding for the students.

The hiring process for staff teachers, even more recently reformed, entails three phases. In the first phase, known as "site selection", principals and hiring committees from schools are able to review resumes, interview potential teachers, and offer jobs to the best candidates. Site selection is open until July 31st - after that point, principals no longer have any say in the teachers who will be working in their schools. At some point in the first two weeks of August, the second phase of hiring ensues in which veteran district teachers choose the jobs they want from the list of remaining openings. Finally, in the last two weeks of August, new teachers and anyone else who has been hired by the district but still does not have a placement are paired with the remaining jobs. They work in these jobs on a "probationary" sort of one-year contract, and can approach their principals at the end of the year and ask to be officially hired by the school for the following year/indefinitely.

For Teach for America corps members, this means that it is extremely beneficial to try and get ourselves hired through the "site selection" interview process. The alternative is not knowing our teaching assignment until the end of August and hoping that jobs in our areas of certification are still available at that point. For corps members assigned to "high need" placements (MS/HS Math and Science, HS Spanish), there will almost definitely be plenty of jobs available all the way up until the first day of school. It's mostly just comforting to know earlier in the summer what subject material we will be responsible for teaching in the beginning of September.

Now, even in my cynicism I can acknowledge that Teach for America has been extremely helpful (actually essential) thus far in preparing us for the fall. They gave us timelines and detailed instructions for taking all of our certification tests, they set up district screening interviews and work tirelessly to make sure that all 162 Philly corps members will have a job by the first day of school. It just frustrates me that those 161 other people are affecting my placement so much.

If TFA gave me free rein right now to distribute my resume and interview with schools, I know that I could get hired somewhere great. Teach for America will only let us work in schools that meet certain criteria (namely schools that serve the lowest performing or most at-risk student populations) and I agree with that stipulation completely. Within this segment, there are certainly schools where I would be better able to achieve significant gains in math with my students than others. When I say that I could get hired somewhere "great"...I mean a neighborhood where I feel comfortable, a smaller school with younger students, an administration that is trying to achieve something progressive, resources for students and teachers, existing parental and community involvement. There are high-risk schools like this in Philadelphia. Other Teach for America corps members will be hired by them.

I will not be. With Teach for America acting as my agent, I have no say in where I interview. The interview weekend that I attended in Philadelphia last month was beyond frustrating because I knew that there were schools represented at the interview fair where I would feel comfortable and honestly be a better teacher (middle schools, charter schools, all-female schools). I was set up to interview with some of them, but I got bumped to make time for other corps members or was pushed until almost the end of the day. In an interview at 5:30 pm on a Saturday, after the committee has been interviewing corp members since noon, how am I supposed to make myself stand out as the one they should hire for their single opening, especially when TFA has trained us all how to answer every question they ask?

And what about the next round of interviews that TFA is going to set up with principals? By the end of June, many more principals and schools will be ready to hire teachers. There will be more schools represented, more openings for middle school math teachers, more opportunities. I just won't be able to interview with any of them. Because TFA needs to place 162 people, they will accept on my behalf the first job offer I get and will turn their attentions to placing all of the other corps members. I can't blame them for that, but it does mean that I've ended up in a school and grade level about which I am extremely apprehensive.

In any case, I do realize that it's not entirely fair for me to complain and that getting hired anywhere is an accomplishment (it is just impossible not to feel a little frustrated about the whole process). I understand how important it is for us to be flexible and willing to teach anywhere that we are needed. I am happy that some of the other brand new and equally scared corps members will be hired at great schools. Most importantly, I know that no matter where I am teaching I can still achieve great things with my students.

It will probably be harder for me to teach at Martin Luther King High School than at any other school in the city. I think that I won't hypothesize any further about what my experience there is going to be like, because I probably have no idea. I don't want to look back in three months and laugh at how pessimistic, or naive, or unprepared I was on the day that I got hired. When I get more concrete information on the school and the position, though, I'll certainly write about that.

Wow. Here goes nothing.