Early Struggles For Private Firm Hired To Fill Substitute Teaching Jobs In Philadelphia
By Mike DeNardo
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- The Cherry Hill-based company hired to fill substitute teaching jobs in Philadelphia is coming up way short during the first week of classes.
Source4Teachers, the firm that won an outsource contract to provide substitute teachers in the Philadelphia School District, only filled eleven percent of open classrooms in the first week of school. The $34 million contract requires Source4Teachers to fill 90 percent of vacancies by January.
"You don't get to 90 percent overnight," says company spokesman Owen Murphy. "We went into this situation knowing that, and we went into this situation knowing that there would be challenges."
Murphy says there were 478 teacher absences on day one, but the company has only 300 teachers available right now. He expects 400 new hires by the end of the month.
Retired teachers have criticized the firm because it pays about half of what the district paid for substitutes.
