Title
Calling upon the School Reform Commission, Superintendent William Hite, and the School District of Philadelphia to address widespread overcrowding in Philadelphia schools by enacting a lower class size in kindergarten through third grade, and ending the practice of split-grade classrooms unless specifically designed for pedagogical purposes.
Body
WHEREAS, Philadelphia's severe budget cuts and teacher vacancy crisis have resulted in widespread overcrowding in Philadelphia public schools, exemplified by a February report from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers ("PFT") documenting more than 500 overcrowded classrooms in Philadelphia elementary, middle and high schools that exceed contractual maximums outlined in the teachers' contract; and
WHEREAS, News reports throughout the year documented examples of extreme overcrowding, such as 77 students in a physical education class at Mastbaum High School; and
WHEREAS, The PFT documented more than 200 overcrowded classrooms at the elementary level and more than 360 overcrowded classrooms at the high school level; and
WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia is in clear violation of the teachers' contract regarding class size in schools; and
WHEREAS, Widespread overcrowding has also resulted in the implementation of split grades across the School District, which is the practice of merging students of different grades together when the District does not hire or pay for a full-time teacher and commit to a lower class size; and
WHEREAS, The School District of Philadelphia has not been timely and transparent in reporting the number of split-grade classrooms, however the PFT had identified dozens of split-grade classrooms impacting hundreds of students in February 2016; and
WHEREAS, Under the Paul Vallas and Arlene Ackerman administrations, the School District of Philadelphia had abolished the practice of split-grade classrooms, deeming those create...
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