Amid national teacher shortage, Philly wants to be ‘first in line’ to hire hundreds of educators for 2023-24

The Philadelphia School District on Tuesday formally hung its “help wanted” sign for the 2023-24 school year, saying it would seek to hire nearly1,000 teachers, principals, and other school workers.

The school system also still has about 180 teacher vacancies for the current school year. The district, Pennsylvania’s largest, educates about 114,000 students in 216 schools, and it employs more than 9,000 teachers.

“If more children in the city of Philadelphia can have access to great teachers and principals ... they can move on with the business of achieving life-changing outcomes,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said at a news conference at Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary in North Philadelphia. “We are not going to let the fact that we’re the largest poorest city deter us from going after the very best teachers, and get in line first.”

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The district’s hiring campaign is starting much earlier than in years past, a nod to national teacher shortages. Applications are now being accepted, and 25 district schools that have traditionally had difficulty filling all positions can begin interviewing candidates in January. (That’s an expansion of a program the district started for the 2022-23 school year, which officials said helped boost recruitment at participating schools.)

Hiring for the remainder of district schools will begin in March.

“We recognize the changing labor market has made hiring more challenging but that all of our students still have the need for us to ensure they have access to great educators,” Larisa Shambaugh, the district’s chief talent officer, said in a statement. “We’re strategically responding to these shifts by finding new pathway opportunities to recruit and retain teachers.”

Shambaugh and Watlington said they hoped rising teacher salaries would help attract candidates. Starting teacher salary in the district will be $50,000 next year, with the average teacher salary at $82,000.

In addition, teachers who choose to work at about 50 tough-to-staff schools will earn a $5,000 retention bonus over the next two years, and the school system is also offering to reimburse teachers for the costs of state permits and certifications, and up to $2,500 in reimbursement for coursework needed to earn certification.

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The school system also plans to expand a popular program that provides full tuition, mentoring and training for current district paraprofessionals to become teachers, and works with career-changers to earn teaching certificates through multiple pathways, including a teacher-residency program.

District teacher Andre Beckett came to the classroom after working in television and film production. He felt drawn to teach in Philadelphia, and ended up working in a school he attended.

It’s not always easy, Beckett said, but it’s always worth it. Now, he’s in a program that helps district teachers become principals.

“This is the start of shaping the lives of families and students in Philadelphia,” Beckett said.

Watlington said he held up as a gold standard conditions at Bethune, which was 100% staffed at the beginning of the year. That’s because of good leadership and a positive working environment, the superintendent said.

Aliya Catanch-Bradley, Bethune’s principal, said the work continues, particularly around recruiting candidates of color “that look like the children of Philadelphia.”

“We need all the ‘all-you-have-to-do-is’ folks who think they can fix education,” Catanch-Bradley said. “We need you on this side.”