Arbitrator: Philly Schools owe money to former nonteaching assistants

An arbitrator has ruled that the School District of Philadelphia owes money to former nonteaching assistants who took assignments in special-education classrooms.

Ralph Teti, an attorney for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, received the arbitrator's decision Friday.

He said the ruling would affect 50 to 60 staffers and could cost the district more than $1 million.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard said he could not comment because it was an active legal matter.

In the past, the district has appealed some arbitration decisions to the Court of Common Pleas.

The district eliminated the post of nonteaching assistant and laid off many of the people who had worked outside classrooms, monitoring hallways and lunchrooms.

When the district realized the system did not have enough classroom assistants to meet federal requirements for special-education classes in 2012, it offered the job to nonteaching assistants (NTAs) who had been laid off.

The nonteaching assistants had been paid in the mid-$40,000 range, Teti said, while the top rate for a classroom assistant was less than $30,000.

To make sure there were enough classroom assistants in 2012 and 2013, the district paid the former NTAs placed in those jobs the higher salary.

But in 2014, the district told the former NTAs they would be laid off if they did not work for the lower amount.

The union contended that under the terms of the PFT contract, the former NTAs were entitled to be paid the higher salary. Arbitrator Daniel F. Brent agreed.

He said employees should be paid the NTA rate for all classroom work they performed after Sept. 1, 2014. Brent also said they were entitled to be paid that rate "as long as they are employed" as special-education classroom assistants in the district.

Although the PFT contract expired Aug. 31, 2013, both the union and the district agreed that the terms were still in effect.

Source: Philly.com