No seniority? No water fountains? More on the contract
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
No seniority? No water fountains? More on the contract
Kristen Graham
I’ve read the Philadelphia School District’s full list of demands from teachers, and it’s a doozy. (That’s on top of details reported last night and in this morning’s Inquirer.)
Some bullet points:
First, the financials - as already reported, pay cuts 13 percent for those who make $55,000 and above, with lesser cuts for those who earn less. (Employees who make under $25,000 would take a 5 percent cut.)
But there would also be benefit givebacks. Teachers and other Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members who are paid over $55k would have to pay 13 percent toward their benefits, and so on - same percentages as the pay cut.
Employees whose spouses or domestic partners are eligible for health coverage through their employer but take district insurance instead would pay a $70 surcharge. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund, which has long administered benefits, would cease to exist; the district would administer benefits.
There would be no more sabbaticals for teachers who’ve worked 20 years. Termination pay for employees who leave or retire would be reduced to $160 per day, as opposed to the current daily rate teachers are paid.
There would be no more “steps” - graduated salary levels within categories of employees. There would be no more elevated pay categories for teachers with master’s degrees, master’s plus 30 credits, doctorates, and “senior career teachers” - those at the highest pay scale.
There would be no more bonuses for those achieving prestigious National Board Certification. There would be no more extra pay for teachers who miss prep periods to perform other work as directed by their administrators.
Layoffs and recalls would be subject to the superintendent’s discretion, and would only require seven days notice, much less than the current notification period.
On top of the longer work day (eight hours for teachers as opposed to the current seven hours, four minutes), teachers would also have to lead professional development, attend meetings, perform bus, yard and lunch duty and be available for parent meetings outside work hours with no extra pay. That’s a big change to the current contract language. Teachers wouldn’t be able to leave the building during the work day, either, without principal approval. Nurses who are called in early or tend to emergencies during their lunch periods wouldn’t be given comp time.
Seniority would be eliminated; all teacher vacancies would be filled by site selection, with the principal given final say in picking teachers. If there are vacancies on August 1, teachers could be transferred to fill them; the district would have discretion over this.
Schools with more than 1,000 students would no longer be required to have librarians or librarian assistants.
Schools would no longer be required to have counselors, and counselors’ caseloads would no longer be capped.
Teachers could be assigned to unlimited classes outside their subject area, and high school teachers could be assigned an extra class without pay. There would be no limit on amount of consecutive time taught in a school day.
There would be no limit on class size. (Current limits are 30 for the lower grades and 33 for the upper grades, large class sizes by anyone’s measure.)
There are some major work rule changes, too - the one that jumped out at me was teachers no longer being able to use reasonable force to defend themselves. The district would no longer be required to provide copy machines, or “a sufficient number of instructional materials and textbooks.”
The district would no longer have to provide a teachers’ lounge, water fountains, parking facilities, desks for teachers, a designated room for speech and language staff and psychologists or “accommodation rooms” for students with special needs. Counselors would no longer be guaranteed to have rooms with privacy and confidentiality, a telephone, a locked filing cabinet and a door.
The district retains the right to subcontract, outsource or assign PFT bargaining unit jobs. Does that mean outsourced teachers? Temp secretaries?
It’s quite a list. Of course, it’s the very first proposal, and the contract expires in August, so we’re in for months of talks. And there’s a question of whether the School Reform Commission has the power to impose terms on the PFT, and whether the PFT can strike, etc.
What do folks think? Please, keep it civil!
Now schools have to close and teachers have to give back for an immediate emergency and still the spelling bee champions are born overseas (no one sees the emergency in that):
This is a state-wide if not national problem:
http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/article/20130201/NEWS01/130209996/phoenixville-teachers-can-t-agree-on-contract-despite-3-years-of-negotiations
Changes need to come from Harrisburg
Changes need to come with the suburban MALE vote that has literally voted itself out of Urban PUBLIC jobs. Not that long ago, PUBLIC Schools were full of PUBLIC jobs.
Suburban high school men mad at Urban college women...A change in attitude is needed for our civilization to move beyond counting drops at a water fountain.
Yes we do need a moratorium for a year...until 2014.— Cuddles- I just read your post and frankly do not understand what you are talking about -- beyond the Spelling Bee that is.
— heybiff - Suburban high school men are mad at Urban college women...A change in attitude is needed for our civilization to move beyond counting drops at a water fountain. — Cuddles
- Hey Biff, don't pay attention to Grandpa Tank. He has nothing else to do but bloviate and kiss his own image in the mirror. He has over 1600 nonsensical comments just as screen name Cuddles. His previous racist screen rants got him bounced off Philly.com. Here's the funniest part. He comments about Philly Schools and he does not pay his own property taxes that support Philly schools. Can you say Hippo-Crit?
— DarnelX - This comment has been deleted. — maximus44
- In waiting for Ken Burns to create anothor "Civil War" I looked at the first episode of his "World War TWO" series. What stuck with me was that Americans (in the segregated military) had such poor academic skills that the military abandoned their academic standards.
After WWII America invested HEAVILY into PUBLIC Education, elevating Rural America, and for a generation lead the world.
Then, as you so eloquently make clear, then came May 17, 1954.
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Much as 10% of the Congress last year destroyed the US credit rating...you are willing to destroy American education for your bias against 10% of the population that gave us Benjamin Banaker, Elijah McCoy and Vivian Thomas...Have you no shame?— Cuddles - This comment has been deleted. — maximus44
- So you want to abandon Blacks.
Is that before May 17, 1954...
or after July 2, 1964?
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Somehow I suspect you are one of those Suburban high school men who are mad at Urban college women.— Cuddles - This comment has been deleted. — bil,l atkin,s
- Wow, Mr. Atkins... how do you know who does or does not pay taxes? Wag of the finger! — Kate_the_Teacher
- This comment has been deleted. — maximus44
- In spite of the deleted comments (how I wish you could have remained in PUBLIC view) the issue has been and always will be July 2, 1964.
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"They will never admit it"...The Mafia, 1922— Cuddles - The school district just showed its true colors. They don't care about their employees and they care even less about their students. The pay cut they are asking me to take? That's the portion of my salary I already use to purchase supplies for my students. The textbooks and materials they are no longer required to provide? They are already meager at best and more than a decade old. The copier they no longer want to provide? That is the only way I can get materials for most of my lessons, using paper I purchased with my paycheck. This is a travesty and a mockery of hardworking teachers all over the district.— 7thgradeteacher
- It is hard to believe that you are hardworking whenyou have the time to read and post on the internetwhile my children are in school and you are a teacher! GO TO WORK — carla commenate
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
You can also follow Kristen on Twitter here.
