About 1,000 Philadelphia School District teachers did not
report for work Monday, many taking personal time to highlight what they say
are unfair working conditions and a lack of a contract.
The majority of teachers at a number of schools,
including Central, Franklin Learning Center, and the U School, called out.
Hundreds of frustrated educators shut down part of North
Broad Street for a time Monday morning, waving signs and chanting on a march to
City Hall.
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which did not
sponsor or sanction the action, held another rally later Monday. The union has
not had a contract for nearly four years; teachers have gone without a raise
for nearly five.
The coordinated teacher absence was organized by the
Caucus of Working Educators, a coalition within the union.
Alicia Benjamin, a kindergarten teacher at Mifflin
Elementary, is frozen at a beginning teachers' salary despite having several
years of experience.
"I've started graduate school, and it's become
increasingly difficult to pay for classes," Benjamin said.
She is not a member of the Working Educators group, but
said she felt compelled to participate. She hoisted a sign and marched down
Broad Street to City Hall after a rally outside School District headquarters.
"I'm here for my students, too," Benjamin said.
"Our teaching conditions are their learning conditions."
Bill Steinke, a 23-year veteran, teaches at Feltonville
School of Arts and Sciences. He called out to make a point, he said.
His daughter followed him into a career teaching in
Philadelphia, and she wonders whether she can stay in the district, he said.
"Without a contract, there's no hope for a decent
standard of living," said Steinke.
Kristin Jones, who teaches health and physical education
at Carver High School of Engineering and Science, marched down Broad Street
with her two children in tow. Bringing son Leo, 3, and daughter Lincoln, 3
months, was important, she said.
"There are days when I walk into my classroom and I
don't have enough chairs or books," said Jones, who has nine years of
experience teaching but who is paid as a fourth-year teacher.
Jones is on maternity leave, so she did not have to take
a day off. Still, she said, the gesture was important.
"I know there are parents who will be upset that
their kids are essentially losing out on a day of education, but we had to do
this," said Jones.
Once wholly devoted to teaching in Philadelphia, she has
feelers out to suburban districts, Jones said.
For Keziah Ridgeway, a teacher at Northeast High School,
calling out was a necessity, she said.
"We have to speak out against the injustices of the world,"
said Ridgeway, a second-year history teacher. "Everybody walks on
teachers. And education got us all here."
The full day of action culminated in the union rally in
West Philadelphia, where teachers saying they were leaving the system because
of a lack of contract spoke.
Lee Whack, a School District spokesman, said that some
schools felt the strain of a majority of educators calling out. But, he said,
education was not disrupted, as the district was able to work with its
substitute-teaching provider to fill most vacancies.
The PFT and School District have planned contract
negotiating sessions all week. The school system projects a deficit of hundreds
of millions of dollars in the next few years.
"Our teachers deserve a raise, and we're trying to get
it for them," Whack said. "Everyone knows our financial realities,
and we need to keep those in mind."
Source: Philly.com
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