Editor's note: We're happy to debut today our first edition of "The Gold Standard," a new It's Our Money column by Phil Goldsmith. Goldsmith is the former managing director for the City of Philadelphia, and the former chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia. He'll be bringing insight on city issues from the perspective of someone who's been inside Philadelphia's government. -DT
The agreement between the School District of Philadelphia and the teachers union is being hailed as "historic" and "groundbreaking," a big step forward for education reform. And it is. But it's about a decade or so late.
The contract is more a testament to what hadn't been done over the years than anything else.
The most overdue change is in "site selection," or the teacher assignment process. Some progress was made on this issue in 2000, but the parties have now agreed to move further away from an archaic seniority system.
In short, teachers will now have more choice in where they can teach, and schools will have the ability to recruit and select teachers with skills and motivation that match their specific challenges.
For too many years, the seniority system forced our newest, most inexperienced teachers into our most difficult schools. This didn't serve students' needs, and resulted in high teacher turnover.
The contract also allows for the payment of performance bonuses to the entire union staff of targeted schools. Whether these bonuses will make a difference remains to be seen - good teachers, I believe, are primarily motivated by their love of the job, and bonuses shouldn't be considered a substitute for a healthy dose of respect - but it's still worth a try.
And it would be nice to try to figure out a way to get parents in on the action, since they have as much to do with their students' performance as anyone.
The contract also addresses school safety (a rightful and major concern for teachers), provides union members with modest pay increases and retains their benefits.
Today, in most work environments, none of these changes would be considered major enough to be hailed as "historic." But in the world of education, particularly in Philadelphia, the race to modernity has been as slow as molasses.
Since the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers won its first contract in 1965, relations between the school district and the union have been rough-and-tumble, ranging from all-out hostilities to guerrilla warfare.
The height of the PFT's power was probably in 1973, when it waged a 7 1/2-week strike, the second longest school strike in the nation's history.
The union's top two officials, John Ryan and Frank Sullivan, became martyrs when they were thrown in jail for contempt of court. In fact, they were denied bail even though, in the same courtroom on the same day, a man convicted of second-degree murder was released on $60,000 bail. Ryan and Sullivan were released each day to attend negotiations, but were brought back to their cells afterward to spend the night.
But what did all this fighting accomplish? In 1973, the district had 280,000 students. Today, the number is only 160,000, a whopping 43 percent decline, a far greater loss than the overall population decline of the city.
We now have an entirely new set of publicly financed schools in the city called charter schools with more than 34,000 students and 67 schools. These schools alone constitute the second-largest school district in Pennsylvania.
For the most part, the charter schools are non-union. And, under the new contract, non-union teachers may also staff the new Renaissance Schools, which will replace underperforming schools. On top of all this, changes in state law have stripped away the PFT's right to strike.
Even our Democratic president and his education secretary, traditionally allies of teachers unions, are major proponents of reform initiatives like charter schools, site selection and performance bonuses. They're using wads of money to entice school districts and unions to change their ways.
Whether the union's strategy of not giving an inch has been the best for the union movement I'll leave for others to decide. I will acknowledge, however, that much of their resistance was often in response to arbitrary and wrongheaded policies by management and politicians.
But one thing is clear. The decline of the school district and its once-powerful union holds an important lesson for both management and unions elsewhere: Change - or you will be changed. At the very least your customers will leave you.
This latest contract reflects major change, not necessarily in substantive educational policies, but in the balance of power between the administration and the union.
Watching the PFT go into the ring for its latest contest - with no right to strike and the threat of management-imposed conditions hanging over its head - was like watching an aging, punch-drunk Mike Tyson - whose once-powerful punch was a wisp of its former self - pretending to make a fight of it. But it just wasn't to be.
This isn't time for the school administration to gloat, however. Its new power is a double-edged sword. It no longer has the once-powerful PFT to use as a scapegoat, to blame for the failure of our schools and students.
For the first time in more than 40 years, the power and responsibility for change now rests squarely with the district administration and its board, the School Reform Commission.
For the sake of our schoolchildren and our city, let's hope they use it wisely, fairly and honestly.
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Phil, you are one of the most anti-union people that worked for this city. Teachers by the way can "walk" off the job if they coose--There is no way to replace 10,000 teachers. Now teachers daily lives are being put on the burner because now they will have "slim" pickings of schools to choose from. By the way, where will all of the teachers go??? there are 76 Renaissance Schools (that is an enormous shuffling of personnel and there will not be enough room for all). I predict that we will lose a lot of teachers for various reasons and Philly will never be able to adequately staff any schools because no one wants to teach here---By the way, who gets a measly 3% raise every 18 months (not every 12 months like a normal person receives)— dkbog- Unions are the responsible for downfall of the economy (most recently)and American society (in general). I laugh when I see those union thugs protesting at non union contracting sites (like the Giant in Springfield). Go get a job and do something instead of protesting. If you don't like the pay and benefits, work elsewhere. Unions are for losers.— TurfMaster
Comment removed.- For the sake of our schoolchildren and our city, let's hope they use it wisely, fairly and honestly.....with all due respect mr goldsmith, dream on— alysnwonder
- most people aren't gettign a 3% raise period, dkbog. Anyway, we need to get rid of all the old teachers. Hire some unemployed college grads instead, they have more energy anyway.
- most people aren't gettign a 3% raise period, dkbog. Anyway, we need to get rid of all the old teachers. Hire some unemployed college grads instead, they have more energy anyway.
- Northeaster, I understand that everyone does not get a raise, however, try teaching in a Philly school. Previous Mayor Street lasted a total of 2 weeks years ago. It is not an easy job!! The majority of countries praise teachers Ex: Japan, China, Canada, etc. Nothing is more important than the education of a child. Most, if not all teachers maintain Masters and Doctorate degrees in their field. They worked hard to get where they are and deserve a decent raise. Why don't you question Ackerman receiving $325,000 salary and her newly hired sidekick $230,000---don't you think they make too much??? Teachers in Philly also make less money than their suburban counterparts. I have a suggestion for you---become a Philly teacher first, get the facts correct, then make an intelligent comment on this topic!— dkbog
- TurfMaster----It's funny you bash the unions but I bet you would love to receive a working wage, health benefits for your family, and a retirement to look forward to. Go talk to someone who works at WALMART and ask them how they like their job and making $7.35 per hour to support a family of four. Last I heard, the nurse who took care of you in the hospital was UNION, or the Pilot of your airplane, or the teacher trying to educate your child if you have one. Don't bash teachers and unions. Philly teachers work hard for what they make (which is a lot less than suburban teachers) and unions are trying to help those earn a decent living---is there anything wrong with that??? It's the American dream.— dkbog
- Whine to someone else about how tough your job is. If you don;t want to do it, don't do it. Go into the private sector and see what it's like to work 11 months per year, compete for raises, pay 20%+ for your healthcare and retire with a 401k. Not to mention get fired if you do not perform instead of hiding behind tenure. You'll soon find that many people are not getting 3% raises in an 18 month period these days.— robtpenn
- Turfmaster, I am pretty sure the lack of regulation over the financial industry, which led to wall st. hedging bets via derivatives on the housing market, is the reason we are in this mess. That is not to say that many unions do not need more accountability (to say the least), but to claim that the recent downfall of our economy is solely linked to unions is ignorant.— Zenoman09
- Let every public servant including teachers, make a median of the income in the community they serve. They should also be a resident of the area in which they are being paid to serve. If the school fails, let the parents step up and take responsibility as they should be already. It is not my job to pay for your child to be educated. My job is to make sure that my children are educated. If you choose to delegate this responsibility to a bad school, it's your own fault that your children get a poor education. How many parents will volunteer to help with the school or take time to even help the children with homework? Not enough would be my guess. I know a lot of great teachers but without parental involvement,the children will suffer. As for unions, they are a plague on society. What was started for good has become a safe haven for lazy, inadequate workers in too many areas. How many of you have worked in a union factory and have seen the guy next to you messing up but you do your job as you should? Chances are, unless he does a huge boo boo, he is going to keep that union job.— momofguys
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