►
Description
From the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education held Monday, November 28, 2016:
Philadelphia Speech Pathologist Sonya Britnall testifies on the challenges of teacher retention and recruitment in the School District of Philadelphia.
View the full hearing here: https://youtu.be/zfTHKrvMFTQ
A
Good
afternoon
members
of
Education
Committee
and
thank
you
to
Councilwoman
Helen,
Kim
and
Janie
Blackwell
for
standing
with
teachers
and
professionals
that
serve
our
city's
young
people
and
I'm
so
happy
to
be
here
with
these
teachers.
I
just
met
them,
but
I'm.
Just
thank
you
so
much
for
your
comments.
A
Speech-Language
pathologists
are
experts
and
language
development
and
acquisition.
So
we
know
how
to
support
verbal
communication
for
children
on
the
autism
spectrum
that
may
require
specialized
devices
or
techniques
to
communicate.
We
support
students
that
struggle
with
early
literacy
skills,
language
development,
narrative
development,
social
communication,
articulation,
phonology,
fluency,
stuttering,
swallowing
and
voice
disorders.
So
we
work
in
a
lot
of
different
settings:
hospitals,
nursing
homes,
preschools
and,
of
course,
schools.
I'm
telling
you
this,
because
we
have
other
places
we
can
work
so
for
slps.
We
can
work
in
other
places
right
now.
A
We
have
about
a
hundred
and
twenty
speech-language
pathologists
in
the
School
District
of
Philadelphia,
and
to
give
you
an
idea
of
how
many
students
we
serve.
We
serve
thousands
of
students
with
speech
and
language
disorders.
We
are
reviewing
2,100
files
for
incoming
kindergarten,
kids
and
I'm
certain
a
great
many
of
them
receive
speech
therapy
and
that
will
be
just
for
incoming
k
next
year.
So
before
it
and
more
coming
by
the
way,
those
aren't
all
the
files
before
I
speak
about
the
impact
that
retention
and
recruitment
has
had
on
my
position.
A
I
just
want
to
highlight
the
building.
Strong
relationships
is
central
to
student
achievement.
John
Hattie
is
a
leading
educational
researcher
and
he's
found
that
positive
student
and
teacher
relationships
have
the
strongest
impact
on
student
achievement
more
than
professional
development,
so
every
time
and
socioeconomic
status
every
time
our
school
district
loses
a
teacher
or
professional
that
directly
impacts
students.
A
That
weakens
the
chances
of
our
students,
academic
success,
so
again:
retention,
recruitment
retention,
teacher
and
staff
retention
issues
directly
impact
the
relationship
students
have
with
teachers,
teachers
have
with
parents,
and
then
teachers
have
with
their
school
teams
the
other
specialists,
these
school
administrators,
the
occupational
therapists,
the
ESL
teacher,
and
so
this
is
really
important,
especially
for
kids,
with
learning
differences,
so
having
a
consistent
teacher
or
educational
team
promotes
better
learning
outcomes.
So
this
year,
almost
half
forty
seven
percent
of
the
Philadelphia
School
District
speech-language
pathologists,
are
substitute
positions
contracted
through
multiple
private
agencies.
A
Within
the
substitute
positions
there
will
be
at
about
an
80%
turnover
for
the
first
year
of
those
speech-language
pathologists
that
are
contracted
positions
even
worse,
our
young
school
district
therapists
and
when
I
say
school,
district
therapist
I
mean
they're
actually
hired
by
the
school
district.
They're,
not
that
you
know
over
almost
half
now
of
contractors,
those
folks
that
have
been
working
again
to
25
years
there
now
leaving
it's
just
not
financially
viable
for
them
to
stay
here.
A
Speech
pathologist
requires
specialized
undergraduate
degree
programs,
two
years
of
full-time
master's
level
work
and
an
additional
clinical
fellowship
year,
postgraduate
degree
to
achieve
our
national
certificate,
which
is
ccc-slp
according
to
2014,
American,
speech-language-hearing,
Association
school
survey
and
that's
our
national
organization.
School-Based
speech-language
pathologist
in
the
Northeast
region
have
a
median
income
of
seventy
two
thousand
dollars.
Seventy-Two
thousand
dollars,
specifically
in
Pennsylvania.
That
figure
is
sixty-eight
thousand
dollars
in
the
Philadelphia
School
District
speech.
Pathologists
make
considerably
less,
especially
with
many
of
our
clinicians
frozen
at
step,
one
masters
level,
46
thousand
six
hundred
and
ninety-four
dollars.
A
So
after
five
years
of
recognized
service,
if
we
were
following
the
promised
contract,
these
clinicians
would
expect
to
make
sixty
thousand
dollars
after
five
years
of
service
or
after
five
step
pays
and
then
speech-language
pathologists
in
Philadelphia
would
only
achieve
the
Northeast
region
and
PA
median
incomes
after
10
years
at
step
10,
we
would
be
at
that
median
income
level.
I
hope,
that's
clear,
so
I'm
not
there.
Yet
I've
been
with
the
district
eight
years,
so
I
haven't
reached
any
of
those
milestones
and
I
guess.
I
just
wanted
to
make
a
side
comment.
A
After
listening
to
people,
talk
about
advanced
degrees,
I
read
in
the
paper
this
morning
that
you
know
it
sounds
like
the
administration
is
thinking
that
we
don't
need
to
restore
pay
for
advanced
degrees
and
I
just
wanted
to
mention
for
a
speech-language
pathologist.
Our
degree
is
typically
over
30
graduate
credits,
so
a
lot
of
times
we'll
qualify
for
masters
plus
30
coming
out
of
graduate
programs,
and
it
really
makes
a
difference.
A
So
this
summer
we
had
an
applicant
who
wrote
to
me
and
said
I'm
trying
to
find
out
how
much
younger
I'm
going
to
be
paid,
which
is
an
issue
finding
out
how
much
they're
going
to
be
paid,
and
so
you
know
she
said
this
amount
of
money
and
she
was
quoting
me.
The
Masters
level
and
I
said
wait
a
minute.
I
bet
your
graduate
degree
program
has
more
than
three
credits
and
that
you
may
qualify
for
masters
plus
30.
She
did
and
she
took
the
job
and
she's
bilingual.
A
So
I
mean
to
me
it
was
fantastic.
I
mean
we
need
that
to
attract
people,
especially
in
a
specialized
field.
So,
there's
an
unfortunate
pattern
of
speech,
pathologist
being
pushed
out
of
our
school
district.
This
year
we
lost
four
school
district
therapists
just
weeks
before
school
started.
They
held
out
hope
all
summer
that
the
contract
would
be
resolved
and
after
the
court
case,
when
nothing
happened,
they
gave
up.
These
resignations
were
therapist
frozen
at
step,
one
for
all
of
their
tenure.
A
A
People
I
mean
to
me
that's
huge
when
your
leadership
team
is
leaving,
and
one
of
them
was
also
bilingual,
so
we
serve
a
diverse
community
and
we
need
more
bilingual
people,
not
less
so
right
now
we
have
about
half
of
our
speech,
language,
sabes
contractors,
and
this
causes
a
lack
of
continuity
of
services,
and
actually
you
just
hit
on
a
lot
of
the
reasons
why
it's
a
problem.
The
school
teams
become
mistrustful
on
the
parents.
A
Don't
know
this
person,
the
teachers,
don't
know
this
person
that
we're
always
starting
over
and
it's
worse
because
most
of
these
folks
don't
come
back
next
year
or
they
might
even
leave
after
three
weeks
here
after
four
weeks
here
or
they
might
leave
in
January.
But
since
it
takes
two
to
three
years
for
speech,
pathologist
to
build
relationships
with
students,
teachers
and
parents,
this
model
of
using
contractors
ultimately
hurts
children
and
families.
A
And
it
reduces
outcomes
for
our
students
and
it's
more
expensive
because
we
hired
a
middleman,
so
it
takes
two
to
three
years.
I
keep
bringing
this
up
for
us
to
build
working
relationships
with
students,
families,
teachers
and
administrators,
because
specialist
support
stuff,
like
myself,
serve
two
to
four
school
buildings.
A
We
have
multiple
school
teams
and
we
serve
up
to
65
different
students
and
families,
so
when
I
say
we're
losing
people
that
have
been
with
us
for
over
two
years,
we're
in
really
big
trouble,
and
it
goes
without
saying
that
the
contract
agencies
like
when
we
use
them
it
ensures
teacher
turnover.
That's
why
people
are
contractors
in
most
cases
because
they
want
a
short-term
position.
So
it's
regardless
of
skills.
So
right
now,
use
of
contractors
is
necessary
when
we
can't
high
on
retain
qualified
staff,
but
it
carries
short-term
and
long-term
negative
consequences.
A
I
think
we're
wasting
time
and
money
on
short-term
employees
when
we
need
to
refocus
resources
on
retention
and
recruitment.
So
let
me
talk
really
quick.
Well,
probably,
won't
be
that
quick,
I'll
try
about
how
why
we're
having
difficulty
retaining
speech-language
pathologists
first,
as
I
mentioned
before,
speech-language
pathologists,
can
find
jobs
elsewhere.
A
According
to
our
American
speech-language-hearing
Association
in
October
2016,
only
one
percent
of
American
speech-language-hearing
Association
certified
speech,
pathologists,
were
unemployed
or
seeking
work
at
the
end
of
2015,
that's
below
the
national
unemployment
rate
of
five
percent
and
has
remained
steady
over
the
past
ten
years.
So,
if
you
know
someone
who's
interested
in
speech
therapy,
it's
a
great
field
to
go
into
the
biggest
problem
we
have
is
the
lack
of
a
contract.
People
are
frozen
in
step
pay
and
its
really
impacted
our
clinicians.
A
Almost
all
teachers
I
know
now
work
a
second
job
and
are
tired.
This
reduces
energy
for
students
during
the
school
day,
as
well
as
decreasing
time
for
planning
and
preparation.
Almost
all
teachers,
I
know
now
are
considering
another
career.
I
think
about
it
too.
Sometimes
almost
all
of
these
same
people
love
working
with
children
and
it's
a
terrible,
sad
thing.
We
must
have
a
contract
that
teachers
can
talk
positively
about
right.
Now.
A
So
other
reasons
why
it's
difficult
to
retain
and
recruit
speech
therapists
get
this.
We
can
find
better
salaries
in
early
intervention,
hospitals
or
in
charter
schools.
Frozen
contract
stopped
incentive
pay
that
we
used
to
receive
something
called
a
critical
shortage
bonus.
So
if
you
were
a
high
needs
teacher
in
any
field,
part
of
special
education,
there
was
an
annual
bonus
for
being
staying
with
the
district,
and
that
has
been
frozen
and
not
paid
out
over
these
years
as
well.
A
There
are
fear
of
threats
that
will
no
longer
have
stopped
a
or
that
proposal
that
came
out
with
only
the
three
steps.
That
was
a
turnoff
to
many
people,
and
they
thought
that
what
you
know
they
left
after
that
we're
concerned
that
the
proposed
pay
doesn't
reflect
the
educational
investment
required
for
speech,
language
pathologist
master's
degrees,
a
lot
of
the
therapist
of
fifty
to
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
student
loan
debt,
and
so
they
need
to
earn
a
salary.
A
We've
also
talked
about
working
conditions,
so
there's
instabilities
such
as
changes
to
your
school
assignment
throughout
the
school
year
because
of
staff
turnover
or
being
asked
to
cover
schools
when
they
don't
have
a
dedicated
therapist
for
the
year,
stressful
working
conditions,
teams
frustrated
by
turnover,
and
we
have
some
parents
now
that
have
been
within
the
system
that
will
ask
specifically
for
a
school
district
therapist
over
some
a
contracted
therapist
that
they
would
expect
turnover,
they've
had
experiences
with
turnover.
Then
we
have
stress
related
to
an
increase
in
litigious
parents
and
special
education.
A
It
could
be
reactionary
to
the
seemingly
inadequate
school
system
they
seven
years
of
underfunding
and
turn
over,
but
it
is
stressful,
overcrowded
school
buildings
without
physical
space
for
specialists.
So,
since
the
school
closures,
a
lot
of
our
buildings
went
from
having
room
to
being
crowded,
so
some
real
examples:
I
have
one
therapist
who's
working
in
a
small
room
connected
to
the
men's
bathroom.
A
One
working
in
a
closet
without
windows
are
temperature
control
working
in
spaces
without
furniture
such
as
students
sitting
on
milk
crates
during
therapy
sharing
the
library
while
there's
a
full
class
running
and
another
specialist
is
fighting
for
your
little
table.
You
probably
know
these
issues
too.
Don't
you
or
another
therapist
is
being
asked
to
move
from
room
to
room
during
teacher
prep
periods
to
service
students,
because
there's
no
room
for
her
to
work
in
I,
don't
know
if
that
makes
sense
to
other
people.
A
So
what
that
means
is
when
one
class
is
at
gym,
music
or
another
special
class,
that
therapist
has
to
find
that
room
and
take
her
students
in
that
room
to
work
with
them.
Well,
so
a
few
recommendations
for
things
that
I
believe
are
critical
for
charting
a
path
forward,
negotiate
a
contract
that
reflects
stop
pay
for
years,
experience
that
is
competitive
to
neighboring
school
districts.
A
Contracts
should
include
incentives
for
hiring
hard
to
fill
areas,
including
the
critical
shortage
bonus
that
had
previously
been
in
place
provides
sign-on
bonuses
for
slps
and
other
hard
to
fill
positions
that
are
payable
over
three
years
time,
especially
since
a
lot
of
people
leave
after
the
first
year.
It
kind
of
turns
the
school
district
into
a
training
ground
for
a
lot
of
these
folks.
A
They
get
their
clinical
sees
clinical
degree
and
they
move
on
and
consider
a
bonus
or
specialized
incentives
for
ccc-slp
like
a
no
birth
certificate
since
the
nationally
recognized
certificate
and
to
provide
a
physical
environment
that
allows
for
specialists
to
work
effectively
and
with
students,
and
we
do
some
things
that
are
really
great.
We
have
great
professional
developments
that
are
tailored
to
speech.
A
Therapist
keep
doing
that,
keep
allowing
speech
therapist
to
mentor
one
another
continue
to
advocate
for
federal
student
loan
forgiveness
programs
that
reimburse
for
working
in
title
and
schools
and
continue
to
encourage
masters
graduate
level
students
to
do
practicums
here
so
I
believe.
We
also
need
to
improve
human
resource
hiring
practices
for
special
education
services
across
the
board.
So
over
the
past
few
years
it's
fallen
on
to
us
the
lead
speech,
pathologists,
to
organize
job
fairs,
actively
promote
our
needs
nationally
and
even
to
push
for
timely,
follow
through
with
HR
applicants.
A
For
example,
I
tried
to
push
for
us
to
have
a
presence.
We
just
had
the
National
Association
here
in
Philadelphia
last
week,
and
I
tried
really
hard
to
get
us
to
put
a
booth
at
at
this
job,
fair
that
they
have
with
over
15,000
speech
therapists
from
all
over
the
country
and
then
I
realized
that
wasn't
my
job.
A
So
we
need
to
identify
at
minimum
a
point
person
for
special
education.
Maybe
there
is
someone
now
for
hiring
someone
who
is
dedicated
to
recruiting
and
timely
hiring,
and
we
also
need
to
nurture
relationships
and
partnerships
with
our
local
universities
for
hard
to
fill
positions.
I
greatly
appreciate
you
allowing
me
to
share
my
experiences
with
you:
I
share
them
in
the
hope
that
it
ultimately
leads
to
improving
our
children's
education
and
future.
Thank
you.
So
much.