A Philadelphia School District teacher should have had a district hearing before his transfer from a high school to middle school science teaching position, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.

Although the school district claimed chemistry teacher Ronald Burnett's reassignment from teaching high school chemistry to middle school science was not a demotion, as he alleged, the court held that the state secretary of education shouldn't have denied the teacher a chance to voice his grievances through testimony, in violation of the school code.

“Because a school district must strictly follow the procedures set forth in the school code when a professional employee claims to be demoted, and district did not do so here, we reverse the secretary's order and remand the matter to the secretary for further remand to district's School Reform Commission (SRC) for a hearing,” Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer wrote in the court's opinion.