Professional Time

HTEA is committed to finding solutions—because supporting teachers means supporting students. Our negotiation goals are focused on creating the time, resources, and support teachers need to provide the best possible education. By addressing these key issues, we strengthen both teaching conditions and student learning conditions.

Since the pandemic, the responsibilities placed on elementary teachers have grown—covering roles once held by aides, expanding academic and social-emotional supports, and managing new initiatives—without additional time. To do our jobs well and meet students’ needs, we need protected time built into the school day.

Our priorities focus on three main issues:

1. Guaranteed, uninterrupted time before students’ first day to prepare classrooms that are safe, organized, and welcoming learning environments.

2. Protected time in the middle of the day to collaborate with colleagues, prepare for the afternoon, set up science experiments, and address issues that arise before students go home. Beginning with the pandemic emergency, this critical mid-day planning time has instead been filled with recess duty assignments—work that was previously done by paid aides. Teachers have not been compensated for taking on this additional responsibility, leaving less time to meet the growing instructional and organizational needs of their classrooms.

3. Dedicated time before report card deadlines to collaborate, finalize grades, and provide meaningful, individualized feedback. This time is essential for accuracy, consistency, and the professional standards our Haverford families expected.