Philadelphia has some of the lousiest schools in America–schools that keep poor kids from any hope in their future.
But it is NOT because Philly has bad teachers or because those teachers are represented by a union.
It is because the city has repeatedly refused to give schools enough money to provide quality education. Like Republican anti-democratic state officials in Michigan, which have taken over city governments by fiat, the Philly elected school board was abolished and replaced by an appointed and unaccountable School Reform Committee (SRC).
That SRC only made matters worse until, with a lot of community pressure, the City Council introduced a resolution to, “[return] to Philadelphia local control of the Philadelphia School District… The new education board [would] have 13 appointed and elected members.”
I hope they abolish the SRC, and reinstate a real elected school board.
This week with no announcement the SRC unilaterally abrogated teachers’ rights, including the right to negotiate, in an obvious attempt to break the teachers’ union.
The pot is now boiling in Philly.
Kids are on strike to support their teachers. They stand for the values of integrity, keeping your word, democracy, and collective bargaining.
My leader, Henry Nicholas, President of not only a national union but the largest union in Philly, 1199, discussed in angry terms this destruction of a city’s democracy at our city-wide delegates meeting.
Leaders from all the major healthcare institutions in Philly are talking about the crisis right now.
President Nicholas has convened meetings with other labor leaders and non-labor progressives.
There is an urgency to the abrogation of democratic rights that not enough of us feel.
But a movement may be a brewing.
Photo: Students strike for their teachers in Philly
Photo source: @mediamobilizing #StudentsForTeachers