Waving signs and chanting, more than 100 members of the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania marched up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway yesterday to protest what they called unfair labor conditions at Moore College of Art and Design.

The demonstration came against a backdrop of budget negotiations for the state and contract talks for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

More than 300 teachers, college professors, and instructors representing 38,000 members statewide are in town this weekend for the union's biennial convention.

One of the hot-button issues is the direction being taken by Moore's administration. Union officials said that Happy Craven Fernandez, the former city councilwoman and current Moore president, has created a hostile work environment where faculty members cannot speak out for fear of retribution.

The college's administration, they said, is making unwise cuts and has established a graduate program at the expense of the well-established undergraduate program.

"What she, I think, plans to do is expand the scope of the college, but at the same time, she's watering down the current curriculum," Shelly Snyder, an AFT Pennsylvania staffer, said of Fernandez.

Last year, the full-time faculty gave Fernandez, who has been credited with boosting the school's endowment and spearheading a move to renovate and upgrade buildings, a no-confidence vote.

Fernandez is on vacation, and a spokeswoman said she could not comment about the allegations.

The union, which consists of about 50 full-time faculty and adjunct professors, has filed a series of grievances against Moore in the past months. Its leaders said they had won about three-quarters of the grievances.

Most recently, Steve Sherman, head of the Moore Federation of Teachers - who was fired last year - won back his job as a painting and drawing professor along with full back pay, they said.

Sherman said he was fired after he told a student who was disrupting class to leave the room. Union officials said Sherman's ouster was triggered by his union activity.

On a short walk to a park opposite Moore's campus on the Parkway, where a giant inflatable rat sat, teachers waved signs that read "Save Free Speech, Not Happy" and "Teachers Yes! Happy No!"

"Happy Fernandez has got to go! Hey, hey! Ho, ho!" they shouted.

Walking behind a police escort on the Parkway, Sherman said he wanted to focus attention not on his case, but on the larger issues at Moore.

"The quality of education is being compromised," Sherman said. "That's what the faculty members care most about."

Moore has cut department chairs and full-time faculty and is in the process of phasing out the popular textiles program, Sherman said.

Its graduate program in interior design recently began, and programs in art education and studio arts will start soon, a college spokeswoman said.

At a morning session of the convention, State Rep. Louise Williams Bishop (D., Phila.) said she was prepared to support Gov. Rendell's proposed tax increase if it meant education funding would stay stable.

Bishop said she believed state budget negotiations were improving. "I believe we can look forward to a budget being passed if not the first of July, then the first week of July," Bishop said. "I don't think it'll be August or September."

Mayor Nutter hailed teachers for their work, calling them "part of the national defense of the nation with this work that you do." Two of the three major goals of his administration are education related - reducing the city's dismal dropout rate of about 50 percent by half, and doubling the number of city residents who earn bachelor's degrees.

Nutter acknowledged there was an elephant in the room, however. Like city workers' pacts, the contract of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers expires at the end of August.

"You have your contract negotiations and I have mine, and I'm not talking about any of them," the mayor said, earning laughter from the room.

The atmosphere surrounding negotiations has been tense, with city schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman blasting teachers and saying she wants a longer school day, more flexibility to move teachers, and merit pay, all positions staunchly opposed by the union.

Ted Kirsch, president of the state union, said the local membership was weary of another superintendent coming in with guns blazing.

"There's no reform that they're talking about that we haven't tried before," Kirsch said. "Every time a new administration comes in, they have to relearn everything."

Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.