Providence, R.I., will implement site-based hiring rather than seniority-based hiring and “bumping” in six schools this year, according to this must-read story in the Providence Journal (see here for background.)
Superintendent Tom Brady says that the city has over 500 applicants for just 75 positions, and many of the applicants come from private or suburban schools, the story notes.
The entire district will move to the site-based hiring system in 2010-2011. Teacher applicants are interviewed by the principal, two teachers chosen by the principal, two chosen by the school improvement team, and a teacher leader.
The New Teacher Project, which has written a number of reports about staffing in urban schools, helped train teachers on the hiring process.
The president of the Providence teachers’ union, Steve Smith, has threatened to sue because the new staffing model runs counter to the contract. But that doesn’t appear to have happened yet.
Brady and Smith have agreed to review hiring in the next contract.