Allentown teachers are frustrated by new curriculums, poor student behavior, union president says

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown School District teachers say they are growing frustrated as they work to implement new curriculums in their classrooms while simultaneously managing student behavior issues.

The frustrations are further exacerbated by what teachers say are inconsistent directives from ASD leadership.

Allentown Education Association President Leslie Franklin shared the grievances with the district administration at a Thursday school board meeting.

“When expectations change frequently, feelings of frustration and concern arise,” Franklin said.

Franklin said she recently went on a six-month listening tour, meeting with teachers at all two dozen ASD schools, to learn what issues were top of mind for them.

She came to Thursday’s meeting to share publicly what she heard.

The union leader also asked for “support and assistance” from the administration to address the teachers' concerns.

Curriculum, classroom challenges

Franklin said the district’s recent investment in $22 million worth of new curriculums has affected all schools in different ways.

“First and foremost, [the] new curriculum presents challenges in regard to the teacher evaluation process,” she said.

“Understanding that teachers are still becoming familiar with the new curriculum through ongoing professional development is important for evaluators to consider [when] documenting and providing feedback.”

Franklin also said that elementary teachers had to learn and implement multiple new curriculums this school year.

Additionally, Franklin said student behavior problems are increasing, and teachers need help from their building administrators.

While teachers use their own classroom behavior management systems for low-level incidents, there are other times more intervention is needed, she said.

“My hope is that the district’s expectation, new curriculum and the behavior management process can be communicated and implemented with consistency to all AEA members,” Franklin said.

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Leslie Franklin

Complaints not fully addressed

Franklin told LehighValleyNews.com after Thursday’s meeting that she meets monthly with a designee from the district administration.

She has brought up recent teacher concerns in those meetings over the past couple months, she said, but addressing them has been an “ongoing process.”

In October, Franklin also addressed the district administration publicly about ongoing issues affecting teachers, such as a lack of basic building and classroom supplies.

At the time, Franklin said buildings were lacking pencils and toilet paper. Teachers also were missing some of the new curriculum materials they needed to teach their classes, she said.

Additionally, teachers complained of “non-working” bathrooms and technology issues, such as a lack of computers, headphones and chargers for students, among other issues.

After Franklin brought up the concerns at the October school board meeting, multiple department heads reached out to her about fixing the issues, she said Thursday.

But Franklin said issues have remained “sporadically continuous” since the fall. They have been addressed at some schools, but not at others, she said.

In October, Superintendent Carol Birks said publicly she was surprised to hear of the issues Franklin brought up and directed her staff to look into them.

At that same October board meeting, school Directors Lisa Conover and LaTarsha Brown called for an investigation into employee complaints and staff turnover.

However, the proposed investigation was not discussed further at subsequent board meetings.

At Thursday’s meeting, neither school directors nor the superintendent — who attended virtually — responded publicly to Franklin’s comments about current teacher concerns.