School District of Philadelphia Reviews

I have been working at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – pay, health benefits, retirement benefits, time off (can you say July and August!), job security. the feeling that you are making the world a better place, unionized (for many) work place.

Cons – Incompetence from higher ups, bully school principals, misbehaving students can often wear you down. Your work day is basically chaotic every day. Micromanagement to the extreme. Creativity is squashed. Most principals simply want obedience.

Advice to Senior Management – Get better principals and train them! The people that I know who have left have left because of either bully and unsupportive school principals, or simply just tired of incompetence from the district higher ups. They didn't leave because of the kids. Many good people who have left would still be with the district had they had better principals.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – You're spending your efforts trying to help these kids. Very challenging, you'll learn more about the human condition than you ever thought there was

Cons – The kids & parents don't value education. Neighborhood schools can be very dangerous. This is not a place for young men and women right out of college to work.

Advice to Senior Management – Throw in the towel, implode the school district and open all independently run charter schools. Charter schools will compete for students, and will likely be far more effective than the current situation.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than a year

Pros – Job security with the union. Students a great: when the show up for class. Working for the public, straight up, as an educator is as close as your can get to being on the front lines of upholding democracy in the USA -- which is essentially impossible, but this is the job to do it in.

Cons – Meddling management, ineffectual union, dangerous work environment outside schools.

Advice to Senior Management – Choose principals who want education first, rather than personal advancement.

I worked at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – You can quit eventually, thank God.

Cons – The 9th grade students are Hellions

Advice to Senior Management – Wake up and start listening to teaches.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good Benefits, sick days, and your work hours remain the same throughout

Cons – Job can be unstable, and diffucult to move up in your career

Advice to Senior Management – pay your employees more money

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – The salary and benefits are decent.

Cons – Extreme violence, no administrative support, no respect from students or parents, no support or help from parents/guardians, lack of supplies, lack of sufficient books, outdated materials, dirty environment, over-whelming paper work.

Advice to Senior Management – Get rid of all the excess administration (Most do little to nothing anyway) and show support for your staff. Crack down on the violence instead of hiding it from the police and public. Use the money you will save from administrative costs (if you fire the excessive baggage that every school seems to have) and spend it on the students by buying enough supplies and books for each student.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at School District of Philadelphia full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – If you have the teaching bug, you know one of the greatest pros for working for a school district is the feeling of impacting the lives of young people in some way. From an outside point of view other pros include amazing benefits, comparable salary, and ability to collaborate with many professionals in your field.

Cons – As a result of pressure from the state for higher scores, the district has taken almost oppressive measures to try to improve the schools. They found a lesson plan style that was proven successful for some subjects and mandated that EVERYONE in the comprehensive schools of the district use it. If an administrator entered your room and you were not exactly on time with 'direct instruction' or 'guided practice' you were written up. If the administrator did not feel a science hands-on lab fit into the lesson plan template you could not use it or you were written up. Many teachers became jaded at the amount of disciplinary notes they received--we lost our ability to be creative and exciting in the classroom, forced to forego a lot of exciting hands-on activities if they did not fit the template. This was one of the greatest drawbacks to the position.

In general, your experience may depend on the particular administration of your school. Our administration was large, there was a clear power struggle among them, and all of the pressure they felt from their higher-ups they came down on teachers for ten-fold. It was not the happiest of environments to work in, in the end (I spent 4 years there and I truly loved it in the beginning, but the poor relationship between administration and staff is wearing).

Advice to Senior Management – Allow a little bit of freedom. Your teachers are there because they are professionals--they know how to teach or they wouldn't have a degree. They love their kids just as much as you do, and if you ease up with the 'oppressive' measures, you're going to see huge improvements. The most productive employees are those who are the happiest--productive teachers will make productive happy students and more lives will be bettered in the process.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at School District of Philadelphia

Pros – When focused on the children, the work can be extremely rewarding!

Cons – So many changes and challenges make it hard to get the work done and really impact the students.

I have been working at School District of Philadelphia

Pros – professional development opportunities
after school work opportunities
students with potential
students that pose a challenge can reach their potential

Cons – budget constraints
current limited openings for transfer or new hires

Advice to Senior Management – Treat your employees as gifts

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at School District of Philadelphia

Pros – Safe place to work, possibilities to upgrade if you try.

Cons – It's not easy to work with today's children disiplinarywise.

Advice to Senior Management – Support more the teachers and do not trust much parents who complain for anything arguing that their children are best.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend