SRC’s Aborting Of Teachers’ Contract Roils Pols

State Rep. Angel Cruz and State Sen. Christine Tartaglione (both D-Kensington) have bills they hope will gain traction and bring an end to the control the state-run School Reform Commission has over the city’s public School District

STATE REP. ANGEL CRUZ

They have the support of almost every member of the Philadelphia caucuses in the General Assembly.

These bills are in response to a growing wave of voter concern over the direction in which the public schools have been heading – a wave of deficit funding and increased overhead. The SRC is now viewed as an ineffective authority by Philadelphia parents and taxpayers. They have not been able to convince Gov. Tom Corbett to send over the funds needed to bridge the financial shortfalls.

The SRC has maintained the present PFT contract is the key, with concessions required from teachers, among which is their need to contribute to funding their own pensions.

In August 2013, the PFT put contract proposals on the table that would reportedly save the district millions of dollars and avert the current budget deficit. Gov. Corbett’s SRC is clearly not interested in negotiating with the educators of Philadelphia.

The SRC has pointed out school district employees in nearby counties pay for health care. Not mentioned is Philadelphia’s educators are paid far less than their suburban counterparts, and often spend their own dollars for classroom supplies for their students.

Criticized also was the way the SRC meeting was announced – through a newspaper advertisement rather direct contact with the teachers’ union and other public officials. The move means the School District will administer the health-and-welfare fund, which is currently controlled by the union. The meeting was held with very little notice, and with no advance warning to the thousands of teachers affected. PFT President Jerry Jordan considered the commission’s decision nothing short of an ambush intended to avoid public scrutiny and fair consideration.

Under the abrogated contract, teachers currently pay nothing toward health care. The change demanded by the SRC will require teachers to make a 10% to 13% contribution to health care, which ranges from $27 to $71 from each paycheck based on salary. That change would take effect Dec. 15.

Overall, the district said the change will save the district $54 million this year, and $70 million a year in the future.

“We now have increased our stable, predictable revenue by approximately $212 million when you combine the cigarette tax, the sales tax, and the action taken today,” said SRC chairman Bill Green.

The School District says it is not cutting the wages of the 15,000 teachers, counselors, nurses and other union members.

“What we’re trying to do is get resources back into schools. We’re still trying to take the least-onerous way to do that and it’s why we took wage reductions off the table,” said Superintendent William Hite.

Gov. Tom Corbett said, “Philadelphia is one of only two districts across the commonwealth that pays zero toward health care. It is now time that members of the PFT join the thousands of public-school employees across the state who already contribute to their health-care costs.”

This move comes about one week after the city’s new cigarette tax went into effect, adding $2 to the cost per pack. The money raised will raised will go toward the Philadelphia School District and is expected to raise $83 million.

Jordan said, “This is not an effort by the SRC to address the fiscal crisis. This is the Corbett Administration’s attempt to vilify the PFT in order distract from his horrible record on education funding and boost his chances of re-election. This action is a last-ditch effort by the Corbett Administration to weaken the standing of our educators with Philadelphia’s parents and community members.”

State Rep. Jim Roebuck (D-W. Phila.), Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee, criticized the process followed by the SEC. “Obviously I am disappointed by this action,” he said. “It’s an indication of lack of good faith and ultimately does little to help our students. It’s creating an atmosphere in which our schools are no longer bound by any rules. I don’t negate the idea teachers should pay a portion of their health-care benefits but you don’t do it in such an arbitrary, heavy-handed manner.”

Roebuck predicted increased class sizes and less-qualified people in schools would result from the abrogation of the contract. “SRC seems less and less a reflection of what the citizens of this city want,” he said.

State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-W. Phila.) stated, “This is another desperate attempt by Gov. Tom Corbett’s SRC to circumvent the collective bargaining process. Gov. Tom Corbett, who controls the SRC through his appointments, is responsible for the financial state of the Philadelphia School District. Now, he again wants to make up for state funding cuts by balancing the books on the backs of teachers who haven’t had a raise for three years.

“It’s clear that this maneuver is nothing more than an election-year Hail Mary for Gov. Corbett. Why else would the SRC provide only a day’s notice for the meeting and not make public the substance of what was going to be considered? Gov. Corbett and his appointees on the SRC did not want the public aware of or involved in this decision. That’s an outrage.”

State Sen. Christine Tartaglione stated, “As a member of Philadelphia’s legislative delegation, I have fought against Corbett administration cuts to city schools and I understand the considerable pressure on the SRC to balance the books in the face of eroding state support. Rather than face the daunting and difficult task of finding progressive solutions to complicated problems facing Philadelphia schools, the SRC has chosen to parrot the Corbett administration’s blame of teachers.

“Philadelphia teachers work in difficult conditions and teach larger classes for less pay than their suburban counterparts and they have already seen their numbers diminished dramatically as Pennsylvania’s leadership devalues education. Trying to balance the school budget on the backs of already-struggling teachers is shortsighted, wrongheaded and unfair.”

State Sen. Larry Farnese (D-S. Phila.) understands “The job of reforming the School District of Philadelphia and returning it to good financial health is not easy. However, this decision by the School Reform Commission to use its ‘nuclear option’ and void the current teacher contract is by no means the best way to move the district forward.”

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