SRC taking teachers to Pennsylvania Supreme Court

The School Reform Commission and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers are going back to court.

The SRC, which controls the cash-strapped School District of Philadelphia, will appeal a Commonwealth Court decision that blocked it from unilaterally terminating its teachers’ contract. In October, the SRC attempted to throw out the contract, which expired two years ago, in an effort to realize cost savings by having teachers contribute to their health benefits.

RAISING THE STAKES: The SRC is taking its fight with the teachers’ union to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The union took the matter to court and won earlier this year. But the SRC isn’t accepting the decision and it’s taking the matter to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, arguing such actions are within its right during periods of fiscal distress. Philadelphia schools face an $80 million budget deficit this year.

“We remain convinced that the SRC had clear statutory authority when it acted last fall to redirect a projected $200 million in savings to our schools over the next four years,” according to a statement from the commission.

The SRC argues it was created specifically to stabilize the district’s finances and what it is attempting to do to the teachers’ contract falls under that jurisdiction.

The teachers’ contract expired two years ago and negotiations have gone nowhere. The district has closed 31 schools and laid off a third of its workforce in an effort to close the budget gap, and it identified teachers’ health care benefits as an area where additional relief can be found.

Philly, Ephrata and Warwick are the only three districts in Pennsylvania where teachers do not pay for health care. While the average American worker pays around $328 per month for health plans, the district is asking teachers to contribute up to 13 percent of their plan, or about $47 per month.

“That change is unfortunate, but given the decimation of district schools, fruitless contract negotiations and the fact that most unionized and non-unionized employees in Philadelphia and across the country now pay into their health plans, it is reasonable,” according to the SRC.

The union has argued for months the commission should look elsewhere for cost savings. PFT President Jerry Jordan has said fixing the district’s financial problems should not be “on the backs” of his members. He has argued city teachers have gone into their own pockets to purchase school supplies for the fiscally challenged district and charter schools are pulling money away from traditional district schools.

The PFT contends one-third of the district’s budget is going into funding public charters, which represent about one-third of Philadelphia schools. Charter advocates point out charters spend about $1,500 less per pupil than other district schools and can actually save money.

Last week, the SRC approved five new charter schools, intensifying Philadelphia’s explosive education debate. With 34 rejected charter applicants able to appeal the SRC’s decision to the Charter School Appeal Board in Harrisburg, the district’s legal team will be working overtime the next few weeks.

The PFT, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers — the second largest teachers union in the country — is prepared to keep fighting.

“The SRC has once again chosen to spend scarce dollars on litigation rather than on the children in classrooms,” Jordan said in a statement. “They have already spent nearly $1 million in an attempt to break the PFT contract while our schoolchildren continue to go without paper, books and other classroom supplies and resources.”

The SRC argues the Commonwealth Court decision “misinterpreted and misapplied the law” when it ruled the district could not terminate the teachers’ contract.

“The issues presented in this case are of substantial public importance and go to the heart of the ability — and responsibility — of the SRC to place the interests of children first during funding emergencies,” according to the commission. “This authority is critical to the future of public education in Philadelphia and this matter is worthy of final determination by Pennsylvania’s highest court.”

Source: Pennsylvania Independent