• Community Rehab Associates, Inc.
• EBS Healthcare Services, Inc.
• EDU Healthcare, LLC
• Humanus Corporation
• Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services, Inc. 
• Progressus Therapy

Why is this contract needed?

• The District’s Office of Talent conducts exhaustive and comprehensive recruitment efforts to attract and hire qualified special education teachers to ensure that each position is filled prior to the start of school. The work of these teachers is critical to delivering high-quality instruction and appropriate support to the District's students with disabilities. Special education teachers are typically difficult to staff fully in districts across the country and specifically in the School District of Philadelphia.

  • The recruiter who hires internally for special education teachers has hired more than 200 special education teachers for SY23-24. She, and her team, have used a variety of methods, inclusive of Indeed postings, partnerships with local and national universities, partnerships with HBCUs, sourcing through LinkedIn, Handshake, and other services. She and her team have also found success in encouraging individuals who apply for other content areas to consider roles in Special Education. This methodology has accounted for 50+ individuals accepting Special Education teacher roles and moving from non-Special Education teacher positions into those roles.

  104 (as of 9/13/2023) contracted teachers covering special education positions that would have otherwise been vacant, increasing the services that will be provided to students in SY2023-2024.

• Continuing with a practice we started in 2022, vendors will also supply candidates for priority special education teacher positions for Extended School Year (ESY) that are not filled by District teachers.

• The original action item granted funding authority for $6,580,000 on April 30, 2020 (#17) for each school year through SY 2024-2025. The Board approved an increase of total funding authority to $8,047,540 for SY2022-2023, SY2023-2024, and SY2024-2025. This requested increase to $15,000,000 will allow the District to hire up to 150 contracted teachers for SY2023-2024, SY2023-2025, and two additional option years. This funding comes directly from the budgeted positions that contracted teachers filled in District schools.

 How is this work connected to the District’s plan to achieve Goals & Guardrails?

•  The work of these teachers is critical to delivering high-quality instruction and appropriate support to the District's students with disabilities. After recruiting and retaining District teachers for positions, and/or offering vacant positions to current District employees through the voluntary transfer process and seniority movement, contracted teachers ensure that instructional services are offered to more students with disabilities.

How will the success of this contract be measured?

• School leader feedback is an important indicator of the success of this work. All contracted special education teachers are interviewed by school leaders to secure placements, vendors conduct mid-year evaluations for each contracted teacher that are shared with school leaders for their feedback on the strengths and areas for improvement, and school leaders complete end-of-year surveys to indicate how satisfied they were with the services of contracted teachers. This data, as well as attendance and other contract expectations, is reviewed with vendors in an end-of-year step back meeting to debrief how the vendors are meeting expectations or need to plan to improve services to the District to continue the partnership in the following year.

If this is the continuation of a contract, how has success been measured in the past, and what specific information do we have to show that it was successful? 

• Placement numbers indicate the success of these contracts, as there were 33 active contracted teachers in May 2022, and there are 95 in May 2023. In SY2022-2023, 45 more contracted teachers served in Autistic Support and Emotional Support and in our high schools, which typically are harder to fill. For SY2023-2024, 104 have started at 67 District schools, with 43 in high schools and another 33 serving in K-8 Autistic Support and Emotional Support. We are requesting additional funding authority because we anticipate more being placed throughout September and after leveling and to have funds set aside if additional support is needed for Extended School Year (ESY).

When applicable, is this an evidence-based strategy? If so, what evidence exists to support this approach?

• There are currently 104 (as of 9/13/23) contracted teachers covering special education positions that would have otherwise been vacant this year. Our work with these vendors allowed us to provide critical services and supports to students in our school communities.

• June 29, 2023, #22
• April 30, 2020; #17
• September 19, 2019; No. 6
• April 25, 2019; No. 10
• April 26, 2018; A-6
• June 15, 2017; B-12
• February 8, 2016; B-5