Hope Moffett will be fired

Hope Moffett, at her home in South Philly, says she's received about 200 e-mails from friends, teachers and strangers since she was banished to "teacher jail."
Hope Moffett, at her home in South Philly, says she's received about 200 e-mails from friends, teachers and strangers since she was banished to "teacher jail."
By Valerie Russ, russv@phillynews.com 215-854-5987
Posted: March 07, 2011

Hope Moffett, the exiled Audenried High School English teachers banished to a School District "Rubber Room" for speaking out against the district's plan to reorganize her school, said today that she's been informed she'll be fired tomorrow morning.

". . .The School District is moving to terminate me and place a permanent record in my employment file," Moffett, 25, said in an e-mail sent to reporters this morning.

Moffett has maintained that she is being punished for being particularly vocal in her criticism of a district plan to make Audenried, at 33rd and Tasker Avenue in Grays Ferry, a part of its Renaissance Schools initiative and convert it into a charter school operated by music mogul Kenny Gamble's Universal Companies.

Community leaders and students protested the plan on Feb. 15. Moffett, who has taught at Audenried since the newly built school was opened in September 2008, received a letter Feb. 17 from district officials ordering her to report on Feb. 18 to the High School Academic Divisision offices within the Strawberry Mansion High School, in North Philadelphia.

Told about the planned termination, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan said: "I am outraged. It's a retaliation for her raising questions about [the Renaissance Schools plan.]"

"We will do everything we can to represent her to make sure she is not railroaded," Jordan said.

Moffett, as well other teachers, students and community residents, have challenged the district to provide data on how Audenried was chosen as a Renaissance school for a turnaround since the school, as reconstituted in 2008, has no state testing data that would show it has been a "failing" school for six years."

Moffett shared this conclusion from a document signed by Linda Cliett-Wayman, the assistant superintendent for high schools.

It said: "Ms. Moffett's views on the plans for Audenried High School are irrelevant to this incident... Based on this unsatisfactoy incident, I make the following [recommendation]:

That Ms. Moffett be terminated of her service with the School District of Philadelpha."

School district spokesman Shana Kemp had no immediate comment this morning.

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