Commonwealth Court handed the Philadelphia Federation of
Teachers a victory Thursday, ruling that the Philadelphia School District was
wrong to rehire school counselors without regard to seniority after a layoff.
Facing an unprecedented financial crisis, the school
system gave pink slips to all 283 counselors in 2013. It later recalled some,
but did so without regard to years of experience, flouting the union
contract.
The school system said it had the right to do so because
of special powers given by the law that allowed the state to take over the
district.
A three-judge panel, in a decision handed down
Thursday, upheld the decision of an arbitrator ordering the district to rehire
all the laid-off counselors and award them back pay.
“All prior recalls were made according to seniority. …
The 2013 recalls should have proceeded under the same scheme,” the judges
wrote. “We are compelled to point out the obvious – that the parties bargained
for binding arbitration. The benefits of binding arbitration would be eroded if
the courts assumed a greater role in reviewing arbitration awards.”
About a dozen counselors had not been rehired when a
Common Pleas Court judge handed the PFT a victory in the case
in 2016. Since then, all but one have been given jobs in
Philadelphia schools, or were offered positions and declined them. The final
counselor has accepted a job beginning at the end of August.
Jerry Jordan, PFT president, said he was delighted by the
ruling.
“It’s a great decision — great for all of the kids in
Philadelphia,” Jordan said. “It means that the children of Philadelphia will
have the requirement of having at least one counselor in every school.”
When the district laid off counselors, it flouted the
provision in the contract that each school must have at least one full-time
counselor. Every school now has a full-time counselor again, but the district
had maintained that it did not have to adhere to that requirement because of
its financial crisis.
It is not clear whether the district will appeal the
ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Kevin Geary, a spokesman for the school system, said
officials “are reviewing the ruling and weighing our options moving forward.”
Source: Philly.com
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