Collin McCann had always wanted to work in the city. Philadelphia, in his opinion, was dynamic and easy to live. The recent Temple grad received his professional certificate from the state to teach seventh to 12th grade Math in April and had been looking for a full-time job since.

"I didn't apply to any suburban school districts because I want to be here," said McCann. "I've met with the principal of George Washington Carver High School and will interview with Edison High School. I've been waiting for a call back."

Residing in Reading, PA, the McCanns belong to millions of middle class, suburban families who benefited from government's tax cut, highway infrastructure and state-of-the-art public school system. Like many Philadelphia's suburban school districts, McCann's school district, Exeter Township, had above 90 percent graduation rate consistently. It offered 11 Advanced Placement (AP) courses and owned a football stadium. In fact, the best school district in the United States in 2016, Treffrin/Easttown School District, was only 30 minutes away from Philadelphia. Treffrin/Easttown offered more than $50,000 in starting salary plus premium healthcare coverage for its teachers.

Comparing various data points beween Tredyffrin Township, which has the best school district in 2016 and Philadelphia

Philadelphia School District offered a stark constrast to Exeter Township and Tredyffrin/Easttown. The four-year graduation rate of Philadelphia School District was 70 percent, well below the state average of 86 percent. The dropout rate, although in decline, was 25 percent according to the state department of education. Students in the school district did not only suffer from high poverty rate but also the language barrier. Most of them came to the United States without knowing any English.

Data based on Philadelphia School District's 2017-2018 Budget

Bhavya Ancha, a junior Biology major at Temple, knew quite well the plight of immigrant children in the public school system. Her family migrated from India to the U.S. 10 years ago when she was just nine year olds.

"It was an atypical childhood. I went to a total of eight schools before I turned 18," Ancha smiled at the record no one has beat her for.

English was not Ancha's mother tongue. Her mother never went to college and her father, the only family member who knew English was working all the time to support the family. Ancha did't speak a word in class for six months and later stuttered because of the pressure to fit in at school. Even when Ancha kept doing well in school, she had a difficult time expressing her thoughts and communicating without feeling embarassed. "I still stutter now when I'm nervous, especially when I think I'm not good enough," Ancha said.

With myriah problems and challenges, the school district still proved to be a viable employer for many Temple graduates. The starting salary for first-year teacher is $45,000 per year with benefits and raise every year - a much better package than suburban school districts'.

"I know what people say about the school district, but I don't mind. Things are getting better," said McCann.

Salary steps for teachers in Philadelphia SD and Tredyffrin/Easttown SD. After 4 steps, teacher's salaries of the two school districts collide. While Tredyffrin/Easttown SD's salary plateaus, Philadelphia SD's increases significantly.
However, with no raise, Philly teachers could not receive any benefits from this system.

His optimism was widely shared among Education majors at Temple despite the fact that no contract and no raise had been made to Philly teachers for the past five years. This year, Temple has made its TU Teach program available for admissions, which allows high school seniors to apply directly to the program and don't have to wait until their second year in college like before.

Emily Jordan, a senior English major, wanted to be a school principal. The Lansdale native was the winner of the 2016 School District of Philadelphia Superintendent's Award of Outstanding Service. Jordan had been the site coordinator for Let's Get Ready, a free SAT preparation program for Philadelphia high school students, since 2014. In a few days, Jordan would graduate with a teaching certificate and a license to teach English and English as Second Language (ESL) at the high school level.

"There is no incentive to be a billingual teacher even though the demand is high. I believe in the merits of the public school system and the diversity that can't be found in private schools," said Jordan.

Jordan went to North Penn High School and credited her time there as life-changing. However, expectation and reality can be world apart.

May 1, 2017 was International Labor Day so Philly teachers went on strike. Both the Caucus of Working Educators and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers organized rallies around the Philadelphia School District's headquarters on Broad Street. In light of a surge in funding due to the rezoning of commercial districts and rising price of real estate in the city, teachers demanded their rights and contracts to be honored and protected.

Living cost and rent were higher than ever and most teachers had to rely on a secondary sources. What's in the foreseeable future for them?