So this happened:
http://thenotebook.org/...
After 21 months of fruitless labor talks, the School District made a bold move Monday to unilaterally restructure teachers' health benefits and send $44 million in savings directly back to schools.
At a special meeting that was barely publicized until hours before its 9:30 a.m. start, with no public testimony before acting, the School Reform Commission unanimously voted to cancel the contract with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers in order to rework its health-care provisions. The District also filed a legal action in Commonwealth Court to establish its right to rewrite the contract based on special powers granted to the SRC.
“This is our attempt to bring teacher contributions to health care in line with other local and national norms in a way that will allow us to remain able to serve students and avoid layoffs,” said Superintendent William Hite in an interview before the meeting. “If we don’t find additional savings, our children will continue to face inadequate resources. And there’s nothing else to cut from our central office or school budgets.”
On his wish list of what he hopes principals will restore, Hite included sufficient counseling services, enough personnel so teachers can meet and plan, more aides to monitor cafeterias and recess, teachers to offer more advanced classes in world languages, additional reading specialists for young children who have fallen behind, clerical help, and materials and supplies.
PFT spokesperson George Jackson said this was a union-busting action, denouncing the stealth move to hold the meeting with virtually no publicity.
"The manner that they did it in is outrageous," he said. "We're going to fight this." The union learned of the planned action this morning. - Philadelphia Publi School Notebook, 10/6/14
And Wolf has been hitting Corbett on this issue:
http://www.politicspa.com/...
Democratic candidate for Governor, Tom Wolf, released a statement in response to the Philadelphia School Reform Commission’s action:
“This is just one more situation that has been forced by Gov. Corbett’s $1 billion cut to education in Pennsylvania and his chronic neglect of the Philadelphia public schools and schools throughout Pennsylvania.”
“All stakeholders have to work together to ensure the best results for students in Philadelphia. Unilateral action undermines the collaboration that we need in order to develop a long term solution for schools in Philadelphia and throughout Pennsylvania.”
“Under Governor Corbett, 27,000 educators have been laid off, property taxes have skyrocketed, class sizes have increased, and valuable programs have been eliminated across the state. It’s just simply unacceptable.”
“As governor, I will work to fund our schools by implementing a 5 percent severance tax, implementing charter school reform, and creating a fair funding formula that takes each district’s unique needs into account.” - Politics PA, 10/6/14
Wolf is also back on the air hitting Corbett over PA's lousy economy:
http://www.philly.com/...
Democrat Tom Wolf unveiled a pair of new television ads Monday that blast Gov. Corbett for recent blows to the state’s fiscal condition and its economy, while also charging that Pennsylvania’s rate of new-job creation has dropped during his administration.
One of them, “Three Days,” opens with a picture of the governor and the assertion that “things keep getting worse under Corbett. On Sept. 16, it says, “budget deficits” force the state to borrow $1.5 billion “just to keep the lights on.” Three days later, the state’s unemployment rate ticks up for the second month in a row. And on Sept., 25, Pennsylvania’s credit rating was downgraded for the fifth time in two years. In between, the add slams Corbett with a labor-oriented think tank’s report that the state has slipped from 9th in the nation in job creation to 47th in the past four years.
The tagline: “Why would we give Tom Corbett another four years?” - Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/6/14
Unions are working hard to guarantee Wolf's victory and Corbett's defeat:
http://www.philly.com/...
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and PA Working Families organized the canvass, which put about 400 people on the streets to identify voters who support Wolf and to encourage them to come out to the polls Nov. 4.
Wolf has led Gov. Tom Corbett (R) by an average of 15 percentage points throughout the campaign, but Democratic strategists and their allies in the labor movement know that the party’s base voters have proved more apt to turn out in presidential years than in a midterm election. The idea is to reach out and communicate with so-called “drop-off” voters.
“This election is not over yet,” Wolf told the chanting, cheering crowd in the stifling basement of Miller Memorial Baptist Church on North 22nd Street. “If no one turns out, those polls don’t mean anything,” he said.
A series of speakers fired up the group by attacking Corbett for cuts to public education and tax policies they said favor corporations and the natural-gas industry.
“Pennsylvania is in the depths of a moral crisis – it’s morally bankrupt,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, a leader of the Working Families group who heads the faith-based activist group POWER.
Corbett “decided it was more important to balance the books on the backs of our children than to ask the rich to pay their fair share,” Royster said.
The canvassers included members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the Laborers and District 1199c of the health-care workers, as well as delegations from the activist groups Action United, Fight for Philly and MoveOn. - Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/4/14
It's smart that Wolf is making sure voters aren't apathetic while the press is already writing Corbett's political obituary:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/...
In a race that breaks sharply with the state’s electoral pattern, Democratic businessman Tom Wolf, a virtual unknown in Pennsylvania politics at the start of this year, is poised to win the governor’s seat next month in a race that is shaping up as a referendum of unpopular Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.
Mr. Wolf, 65, who has never held elected office, is leading Mr. Corbett in polls by an average of more than 15 percentage points. If the Democrat’s lead holds, it would mark the first time an incumbent has lost since Pennsylvania began allowing two-term governors in the early 1970s. The past six governors have won second terms by an average of 21 percentage points.
Chairman of a family-owned building materials company in York, Mr. Wolf has underwritten his rise to prominence by donating $10 million of his personal fortune to his campaign. - Washington Times, 10/5/14
We are going to defeat Corbett but I think we can also win back the State Senate and also win a few congressional races:
Click here to donate and get involved with Wolf's campaign, State Senator Mike Stack's (D. PA) Lt. Governor campaign, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and Manan Trivedi (D. PA-06) and Kevin Strouse's (D. PA-08) campaigns:
http://www.wolfforpa.com/
http://www.stackforpa.com/
http://www.padems.com/
http://www.trivediforcongress.com/...
http://www.kevinstrouse.com/