TUE AUG 27, 2013 AT 08:31 AM PDT
Philadelphia mayor still blaming teachers for funding crisis created by Republican governor
"It's a part of a planned distraction campaign that gets all of you talking about that and not talking about how we select teachers to be in classrooms, how we fill vacancies and how folks should pay something for their health care," Nutter told reporters. "I'm not getting distracted by that. I'm focused on what's in the best interest of children."Translation: Philadelphia teachers, already paid 19 percent less than teachers in nearby suburbs and 8 percent less than teachers in Pittsburgh, should take cuts to their health benefits, and seniority rules should be set aside, allowing administrators to keep or call back the lowest-paid or most compliant teachers in making layoff decisions.
This is a mayor whose response to a funding crisis created when his state's Republican governor targeted his city's schools has been to point a finger at teachers rather than at the governor. So it's no surprise that his answer to teachers and parents fighting back is to once again blame teachers. But that's the distraction here. As a Republican city council member detailed in an open letter to Gov. Tom Corbett, it was Corbett who created the funding crisis in Philadelphia's schools. There can be no doubt Corbett did that on purpose. But Nutter doesn't have to accept Corbett's story about what's going on by joining him in putting blame on teachers and demanding massive concessions.
http://www.phillytrib.com/newsarticles/item/10588-tensions-rise-between-teachers,-school-district.html
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members turned out in large numbers for the School Reform Commission meeting on Aug. 15. An overflow crowd gathered in a first floor common area to listen to public testimony on a giant TV screen. — TRIBUNE CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER ABDUL SULAYMAN
Leaders of the School District of Philadelphia are accused of using its current funding crisis to their advantage, forcing work-rule changes that push out more experienced, higher-paid educators and marginalizes the quality of public school instruction.
That was the scathing assessment by an English and Spanish teacher who was among the nearly 3,900 district employees whose jobs were eliminated in June as district officials, faced with a $304 million budget shortfall, sought ways to cut expenses.
Tensions between the School Reform Commission and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union have increased as both sides work behind the scenes to negotiate a new collective-bargaining agreement that expires Aug. 31 for employees who work in Pennsylvania’s largest school district with 136,000 K-12 students in more than 200 public schools.
After asking the union to agree to new contract proposals that would translate into $133 million in savings for the financially-strapped district, School Superintendent William Hite Jr. recommended that the SRC vote to temporarily suspend the school code, citing “unprecedented financial distress.”
The district wants to be cut free from contractual obligations and be allowed to place individuals in schools based on needs of the students or students. Seniority rules would have prevented that freedom under the school code.
Kathleen Melville, co-founder of Teachers Lead Philly, said teachers are upset about the temporary loss of seniority, but she believes another scenario is more likely: teachers continuing to work without a new contract in force.
However, the executive board member believes a teachers strike could be seen more favorably if there’s a perception that the School District of Philadelphia is trying to impose a new teachers’ contract in the same manner as it stripped teachers of seniority with its approval of school code suspensions.
She argued that the school district is “most interested in the bottom line at this point, not retaining the best teachers, but getting rid of the most expensive teachers, who are also the most experienced teachers, many of whom are excelling in education. It’s not really what’s best for kids [or] what’s best for schools, but what’s cheapest,” said Melville, who teaches 9th-grade English and Spanish at Constitution High School.
For example, the 9-year teaching veteran said her school lost an exceptional Level 3 secretary who juggled her duties and filled in as needed because the school district wanted to fill the position with a hire someone who was classified at a lower tier and is paid less.
“I don’t think that’s in the best interest of the students,” Melville said.
Union leaders and parents say teachers and other district employees should not be asked to give up more, especially since many have spent their own money for supplies when their school inevitably runs out of inventory.
The school district has proposed pay cuts and reduced benefits and eliminating several other contractual provisions, including step increases for completing advanced degrees, and removing contract guarantees of access to “safe and healthful conditions.”
Longer work days and contributions from employees for health care also are being proposed.
“We’re doing this because of limited resources,” said SRC spokesman Fernando Gallard, adding that more staff could be recalled if the union agreed to the contract proposals, which are aimed at generating additional savings for the school district.
There have been mumblings among the rank-and-file about a possible strike, which is prohibited by state law - but the job action could be gaining favor among union members amid a growing discontent about what they say are worsening working conditions.
Gallard said the temporary exemption to the school code was important because it now allows the district to recall laid-off employees to the school they were assigned last. He justified the decision with the same reasons cited by Melville: Familiarity with the students, the school, its issues and culture.
Asked whether the school code suspension could continue indefinitely since it’s tied into the funding crisis, Gallard said the temporary exemption is set to expire, but the school district can consider a time extension based on circumstances.
Helen Gym, who is co-founder of Parents United for Public Schools, accused school leaders of “exploiting a crisis situation … to force through things and subject people to work conditions that would not be acceptable otherwise.”
She spoke out about the need to spell out certain provisions in contracts
Gym is a former teacher in the Philadelphia school district and founder of a charter school in Chinatown. She agrees with PFT President Jerry Jordan, who predicted a mass exodus of the district’s best teachers if contract provisions were ratified, as proposed, by a majority of union members.
She said there’s no correlation between stripping seniority and boosting student achievement. Legislation proposed in Harrisburg would allow economic furloughs of school employees based on factors other than seniority, which is opposed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
By doing that, the PSEA contends the process becomes subjective and arbitrary and opening the potential for abusive employer practices.
The PSEA has stated that the greatest cost-savings can be derived by taking the most experienced educators out of the equation but not without harm to the educational environment.
Gym said the district needs a more supportive environment for teachers and urged the school district
“In reality, the teacher’s contract is full of seemingly odd things about building conditions, privacy rights, supplies and mandated positions in part because they have been the only way in which such things can actually be guaranteed.
“Sure, it seems inconceivable that a school would not have a functioning water fountain. But I have been in schools where fountains have been shut off for any number of reasons. The only reason fixing them became a priority was because the teachers’ contract mandated access to one.”
http://thenotebook.org/blog/136355/countdown-day-14-most-noontime-aides-are-back
Countdown, Day 14: Most noontime aides rehired; asst. principals to be recalled soon
by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 26 2013 Posted in Countdown to calamity?
Altogether, according to a document made publicMonday, District officials used the $50 million in additional funds promised by the city to restore 907 positions, including some counselors, teachers, and others. That came on top of 742 positions that had been restored with $33 million that Superintendent William Hite eked out of his existing budget, for a total of 1,649.
Among those being recalled are 45 assistant principals, although none of them have yet been notified, according to Robert McGrogan, head of their bargaining unit.
With the $33 million in savings, the District recalled 212 three-hour aides and 212 four-hour aides -- one for each school. With the $50 million, an additional 685 four-hour aides were recalled, largely due to school demands for more of them.
Still, some schools will have fewer aides than they had before. District spokesman Fernando Gallard said he did a spot check with certain high school principals and found that Martin Luther King High School would have 5 this year, compared to 12 last year; Northeast High would have 11, compared to 19, and South Philadelphia would have 6, compared to 9. Both Southern and King are receiving students from schools that were closed.
The union representing the aides, UNITE HERE!, issued a press release Friday saying that 1,157 of their members had been recalled. (A union spokesman said that they got a list from the District that had 1,157 names on it; the reason for the discrepancy could not be pinned down, but some of those members may have held other school-based positions.) The union had organized a fast by some of the workers, who were joined by parents and students. The fast had received national attention.
McGrogan said that he was getting worried that no assistant principals had yet been notified they were being recalled, saying it was getting perilously close to the opening of school. "Principals are calling me every day asking who will it be, when will I know," McGrogan said.
Schools with more than 850 students were able to hire one assistant principal; schools with more than 1,500 were able to hire two. Most smaller schools will not have an assistant principal.
Although the District gave no reason for the delay in recalling the assistant principals, the School Reform Commission suspended parts of the school code last week that allows it to recall employees not strictly according to seniority, meaning that it may take longer to determine who the individuals will be.
Gallard said that individual assistant principals will be notified Tuesday and Wednesday.
The total recalled includes 116 counselors -- not enough to cover every school.
Even with the recalled workers, Gallard said, "we want to emphasize that we have a continued need for more resources."
Acting Education Secretary William Harner forced out
by David Limm on Aug 26 2013 Posted in Latest news
In a surprise move, Gov. Corbett has requested and received the resignation of William Harner, Pennsylvania's acting secretary of education. Harner has served less than three months in the role, since the departure of Ronald Tomalis.
No reason for Harner's departure was given in the statement released by Corbett's office announcing his resignation.
According to the Patriot-News, Harner's termination may have resulted from an issue that arose out of a background check relating to his time working in the Cumberland Valley School District.
Carolyn Dumaresq, the department's executive deputy secretary, will take over the role of acting education secretary, effective immediately. Dumaresq was formerly a superintendent of the Central Dauphin and Steelton-Highspire school systems. She also served as the executive director of Pennsylvania State Education Association and the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
Harner leaves his post as the Philadelphia School District looks for the state's release of $45 million, which depends on the education secretary's judgment and written certification that the District has begun fiscal, educational, and operational reforms.
State officials have made clear that those reforms require major concessions from the teachers' union.
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