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11:52

Kristen Graham - Hello again, folks! Welcome to another chat on Philadelphia schools. As always, I appreciate your patience - I typically receive more questions than I can answer, but will get to as many as I can. Thanks for joining the conversation.

11:56

[Comment From sapereaude]
Do you know how Ms. Ackerman will try improve the morale of the teachers in the district? The environment is very toxic.

11:57

Kristen Graham - Hi, Sapereaude - Good question. I don't know if Dr. Ackerman plans any outreach to teachers. But she's said on more than one occasion that she came out of retirement to make "one last stand" for children, and if she has to alienate some people, she will. That said, she's also said on more than one occasion that she was a teacher herself and she is NOT anti-teacher. I know many teachers feel differently, though. What do you think, chatters? What should she do to improve teacher morale? What can principals do?

11:59

[Comment From Tim]
Contract extension ends in 12 days. Should we expect another extension?

12:01

Kristen Graham - Hi, Tim. I would be surprised if there's NOT another contract extension for the teachers (and the other five unions as well.) We just discovered what the state budget holds for Philadelphia (and it's not great) and chief business officer Michael Masch says there's no room in the budget for raises. I doubt the two sides can get close enough in 12 days to get to a deal.

12:01

[Comment From sapereaude]
Also on a side note, to increase participation from the school community, if you can hold these chats after school hours, you may get a more varied perspectives. This is an important dialogue though.

12:01

Kristen Graham - Good idea, Sapereaude. I will do my best to vary chat times.

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