Phila. schools, teachers extend contract - again

For the first time in recent memory, it appears likely that city schoolteachers will go into the new year without a new contract.

The Philadelphia School District and its largest union, the 17,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, yesterday announced their third contract extension this year. The pact is now set to expire Jan. 15, and it seems unlikely a deal will be reached before the district's holiday recess.

Union president Jerry Jordan said yesterday that the sides sat through marathon sessions at the bargaining table all Thanksgiving weekend, but were unable to reach an accord.

"We have been making some progress. I underscore some. There just wasn't enough to close the deal," said Jordan.

He declined to say how close he thought the sides were.

District officials have said that they have not budgeted for any raises, and late last month detailed a revised budget picture that could complicate negotiations. Higher spending and less state money than anticipated means cuts in some areas - mostly central office, but also about $1.2 million in trimmed school budgets district-wide.

Initially, the pact with district teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors and support staff was set to run out on Aug. 31, but it was first extended until Oct. 31 and then again until yesterday. Jordan, a 30-year district veteran, said he was not aware of any other contract that had been stretched out so long.

Part of the reason for the delay was a late state budget, which made working out financial specifics an impossibility for months. But Jordan said the sides still had not just financial terms to work out, but also work rule and educational issues.

He said he knows his union's membership, including about 11,000 teachers, is anxious.

But, Jordan said, "the issues we're dealing with are really complex. In this era of reform - and I use that word lightly - everybody wants to call a challenge a reform. Too often in education, many decisions have been based on the latest fad, and we're trying to avoid dealing with fads. We're talking about kids and their life chances."

Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has said that in order to advance reform for the district's 167,000 students, she needs longer school days, merit pay for teachers, and more flexibility to assign staff regardless of seniority.

Union officials have told their members the district also wants to shorten prep time for some teachers, give principals say over teacher planning for part of every week, and make teaching summer school mandatory for some.

There could also be sweeping changes for teachers in a third of district schools. According to the union, teachers at the 95 lowest performers, or "empowerment schools," could have "terms and benefits" set by principals.

The union opposes those proposals. Jordan said a longer school day is not necessarily a better school day, merit pay is tough to administer fairly, and what's needed are more and better teacher supports and better safety and discipline in schools.

Unlike teachers in the rest of the state, Philadelphia teachers are forbidden from striking. Act 46, the state takeover law, prohibits that.

The state takeover law also gives the district an unusual position of strength - the School Reform Commission has the power to impose conditions and terms on the union, though it has never done so.

Ackerman, however, has said she's willing to consider asking the commission to impose terms if she needs to. The superintendent has said she prefers to negotiate, however.

Jordan said that worrying about the imposition of terms "is not my focus right now," and pointed out that the union has successfully negotiated contracts since the takeover.

Until a new deal is worked out, current salary, benefits and working conditions will remain in place. Beginning district teachers now are paid $41,510 a year.

City teachers are not alone in their wait for a new contract. None of the city's municipal workers have new contracts either, although their agreements expired in June.