PFT sued over workers on district payroll

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and Philadelphia School District were sued in Common Pleas Court on Wednesday over a long-held practice that allows union employees to remain on the school system's payroll.

The conservative Fairness Center, representing Americans for Fair Treatment, holds that taking teachers and other school workers out of city classrooms to work for the PFT is illegal.

Technically, up to 63 PFT workers - including union president Jerry Jordan - remain on the district's books, accruing seniority and pension time and receiving district health insurance. The union reimburses the district for some of the cost of carrying the workers.

The Fairness Center called Jordan and other workers "ghost teachers," and blasted the PFT for taking advantage of the district as it struggles with years of classroom cuts and significant deficits.

"Philadelphia students need all their teachers in the classroom - not ghost teachers getting paid to skip school and work for a union," Fairness Center general counsel David Osborne said in a statement.

Osborne also blasted the district for allowing the PFT workers to remain on its payroll. The school system agreed to grant certain PFT workers release time from district jobs in its most recent contract - which expired in 2013, though most of the terms of the pact are still being honored.

"In the cost-conscious world of Philadelphia education, it's stunning that the collective baraining agreement currently in place does not require the PFT to reimburse the district for any of these costs," Osborne said. "The district is effectively propping up the PFT machine and losing oversight over its own employees."

The practice of allowing union workers to remain on the public-sector payroll is not uncommon, but Fairness Center officials say they are suing to shine a light on the practice and have it declared illegal in Pennsylvania.

Source: Philly.com