16 Philadelphia principals lack state credentials

Sixteen principals in the Philadelphia School District are working without proper state certification, officials said Tuesday, citing a failure to monitor staff credentials.

The disclosure cames days after LaGreta Brown, the former principal of South Philadelphia High, resigned after The Inquirer asked questions about her credentials.

The principals will face no discipline, and efforts are under way to get them emergency certification or submit proof of coursework needed to obtain full certification.

"There is simply no excuse why the district did not properly monitor the certification expirations and requirements," Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said in a statement. "Just as every employee in the district must pass an FBI background check, all teachers and principals require up-to-date certifications. We failed to do our job in these cases and will take immediate steps to repair the process."

Brown was hired last year even though she lacked an active Pennsylvania certificate. She was supposed to get an emergency certification but never followed through, officials said.

Her situation prompted the district to check the credentials of the approximately 400 principals and assistants in the system, officials said.

Of the 16 other principals and assistant principals who lack valid certificates, 10 had active Pennsylvania certification at one time that has since lapsed. Most had failed to take necessary continuing education classes.

Six came from out of state and never obtained emergency certification to work here.

All have been directed to fix their certification issues immediately, officials said.

There will be no sanctions against the 16, said Estelle Matthews, chief of human resources. A district representative will travel to Harrisburg Wednesday to deliver paperwork for emergency certification for the six principals who need it.

Officials from the state Department of Education assured Matthews that they would help the other 10 "get this done as quickly as we can," Matthews said.

The district and the principals share "joint accountability" for the problem, Matthews said. The 16 met with Ackerman Tuesday.

Matthews said the problem was that "departments didn't talk to each other." In the future, she said, the divisions responsible for new hires and certification will work in tandem.

In the case of Brown and the other 16, the principals knew they needed to either obtain emergency credentials or keep their certificate current, but the district never followed up to make sure they had, Matthews said.

The human resources department will follow up, she said. Principals will then have 30 days to produce the proper paperwork or will lose their jobs.

On Tuesday morning, Ackerman called the heads of the principals' and teachers' unions to "apologize for this oversight and ask for their cooperation in helping me restore a certification monitoring system that works," she said in her statement.

Michael Lerner, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, said there had been much confusion over certification requirements since the state changed them in 2008.

"Of course, they're grown-ups and they're responsible for what they need to do, but it's too complex a problem to say, 'Well, these folks just didn't take the time or make the effort,' " Lerner said.

Principals must take 180 hours of continuing education courses through the district or a college or university.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Ackerman told him that in other districts where she had worked, there was always a system to verify that credentials were up to date.

When it comes to the district's approximately 11,000 teachers, the district will allow none who lacks certification to be in a classroom, Jordan said.

Matthews said the district had "faithfully" checked on teacher certification and recently sent letters to more than 300 teachers whose credentials expire in July.

Last year, the district fired 47 teachers who did not keep their certifications current, Matthews said.

If the state discovers an uncertified teacher or principal during an audit, it can withhold funding.

In Pennsylvania, teacher or principal certification verifies "the qualifications and proper training of each professional educator to execute his or her professional responsibilities." Standards are set by the state Board of Education.