►
From YouTube: Councilwoman Helen Gym on School District Teacher Vacancies, Ongoing Issues 10-27-2016
Description
From the Stated Meeting of Philadelphia City Council held Thursday, October 27, 2016:
Councilwoman Helen Gym (At Large) calls attention to teacher vacancies, other ongoing issues in the School District of Philadelphia during the floor speeches portion of the meeting.
www.phlcouncil.com/HelenGym
A
She
recognizes
Councilwoman
Jim.
Thank
you
very
much
council
president.
So
last
night
I
wanted
to
bring
up
two
things
very
briefly,
but
last
night
we
had
an
education,
Town
Hall
thanks
to
the
hosting
of
councilman
O'neal,
and
to
my
colleagues,
Alan
DOM
and
Councilman
talvin
burger
for
coming
out
to
to
share
on
it
and
we'll
be
having
another
one
in
November
with
Councilman
block
well
at
Paul
Robeson
high
school.
But
a
number
of
the
things
that
have
come
out
a
little
bit
have
been
the
fact
that
the
school
year
has
opened
up
with.
A
You
know
a
lot
of
hopes
and
promises
about
where
we're
going
to
be
on
terms
of
staffing,
but
we
have
about
a
hundred
and
eight
teacher
vacancies
still
impacting
over
3,000
students
across
the
school
district.
The
teacher
vacancies
again
impact
the
fact
that
we've
outsourced
tower
substitutes
out
to
Kelly
services.
A
I
would
ask
that
if
any
of
my
council
colleagues
might
reach
out
to
their
network
schools
to
find
out
and
get
a
kind
of
an
assessment
of
what's
happening
within
those
schools,
with
a
particular
attention
to
schools
that
are
missing
essential
core
subjects,
so
Lincoln
High
School,
for
example,
is
missing
an
English
teacher
in
a
biology
teacher
and
those
are
tested
subjects.
Those
are
mandatory
subjects.
It's
October,
18th
I
mean
I'm.
Sorry,
it's
October!
It's
that
it's
the
end
of
October
and
students
need
to
be
in
classrooms
with
a
full-time
teacher.
A
Getting
their
education
school
started
on
September
18th,
it's
not
starting
November,
first
or
or
any
later.
So
I
would
just
urge
my
colleagues
to
continue
to
reach
out
and
we're
working
with
the
school
district,
to
figure
out
how
we're
doing
up,
at
the
end
of
the
day
we're
over
three
and
a
half
years
without
a
teacher's
contract.
We've
got
teachers
who
have
eight
years
with
a
master's
degree
earning
what
they
would
receive
at
four
years
with
the
bachelors,
and
this
situation
is
pretty
untenable.
A
It's
been
that
way
for
a
while,
but
we
need
particular
attention
to
the
teacher's
contract.
But
in
the
meantime,
if
we
could
just
take
a
look
at
what's
happening
in
our
network
schools
and
just
count
overcrowding,
vacancies,
split
grades
and
missing
teachers,
in
course,
subject
areas
and
then
briefly,
I
just
wanted
to
say
a
thank
you
to
my
fellow
council,
women,
Maria
Canyon,
no
Sanchez,
who
helped
lead
a
important
conversation
about
the
Berks
County
Detention
Center.
A
We
may
have
some
communication
with
some
of
the
berks
county
commissioners,
who
are
unhappy
about
the
fact
that
philadelphia
is
being
very
vocal
about
a
family
Detention
Center
an
hour
away
from
us,
which
is
housing
almost
exclusively
refugee
women
and
children
in
the
facilities
who've
been
there
beyond
Isis
required
20
days.
Some
of
them
have
been
in
there
for
more
than
a
year.
No
charges,
no
determination
of
when
this
detention
ends
no
solution
and
no
resolution
impact.
A
The
detention
center
has
been
recommended
for
closure
by
the
State
Department
of
edgy
Pennsylvania
Department
of
State
Immigration
and
Customs.
Enforcement
Agency
has
already
made
a
statement
and
recognized
that
there
are
troubling
issues
when
we
detain
children
for
more
than
a
year
and
in
particular,
human
rights
groups
have
started
to
come
and
denounce
family
detention
as
being
abusive
and
inhumane,
and
so
I
want
to
thank
my
colleagues
if
you
have
any
questions
or
need
to
reach
out,
we've
been
invited
to
go
visit.
A
The
Berks
County
Detention
Center
and
so
would
be
glad
to
work
with
Councilwoman
Canyon,
a
Sanchez
myself
and
others
who
are
who
are
interested
in
this
issue,
but
it
but
artfully
is
that
this
is
not
a
law
and
order
issued.
This
is
an
issue
of
international
human
rights.
It's
worthy
of
an
international
investigation
and
it's
going
to
take
a
firm
calling
to
draw
attention
and
end
family
detention
in
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
and
the
country
overall.
Thank
you
Thank,
You
counselor.