Philly school district eases off threat to cancel union contracts

The Philadelphia School District has backed away from its threat to cancel contracts Friday if it did not get $75 million in concessions from its five unions.

The district, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Childs, "is currently engaged in positive conversations with the unions" to help close a massive budget gap. "As a result of these conversations, the district will not be making a recommendation to the SRC to cancel any union contracts on July 1."

However, Nadine Bonner, a spokeswoman for the district's largest union, the 17,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said, "We are not aware of negotiations."

Childs declined to elaborate. "We're not commenting on specifics of the negotiations," she said.

The district's budget gap had been $629 million, but grew $35 million this week when the state declined to provide aid the district had been banking on.

If the unions do not give up $75 million, the district's budget shortfall would grow even more. The School Reform Commission has the power to break contracts and impose terms, but has never attempted to do so.

Officials have laid off more than 3,400 workers and made deep cuts to programs and school budgets citywide. They have not announced where the additional $35 million would come from.

PFT president Jerry Jordan has said his members had made concessions and would not give more.

Michael Lodise, head of the school police officers' union, said he stood with the teachers' union.

"We're not talking. We haven't talked in about a month. We gave them our final decision on that. We're not going to sit down," Lodise said.

He said he believed the matter would end up in court.

Some unions said they were talking.

George Ricchezza, head of Local 1201, the union representing 3,000 bus drivers, aides, mechanics, engineers, and cleaners, acknowledged he was in talks.

"In the spirit of compromise, school workers are continuing discussions with the district with the goal of protecting essential services for our students and minimizing their proposed layoffs. Helping these men and women keep their jobs is vitally important for supporting their families and for preventing our schools from slipping further into disrepair," Ricchezza said in a statement.

Robert McGrogan, head of the principals' union, said his union had "been cooperative in the sense that we are listening to proposals, recognizing that the dire financial situation they're in is real."

McGrogan characterized the conversations as cordial, but said the sides were not close to "having anything to memorialize."

He said his union and the district were looking for "mutual efficiencies."

Still, McGrogan said, he was going to have a tough time selling concessions to his members, who he said were wary of the district.

"I have a credibility problem with the School District of Philadelphia," McGrogan said.

While the district got hit especially hard by cuts to state aid - Philadelphia bore a disproportionate share of the funding blow dealt by Harrisburg - some have questioned the district's budgeting and spending priorities.