Teachers Want What Children Need; A Plea for the PFT to Bargain for the Common Good

By Kaitlin McCann 

How can bargaining for the common good protect and strengthen Philadelphia’s public education?

The teachers in Philadelphia want what children need. We want lower class sizes to support more effective teaching. We want healthy school buildings remediated of toxic materials, with proper HVAC and water systems to ensure our students’ safety and comfort. We want real wage increases, that allow us to work only one job. We want well-rounded learners with music, gym, art and library available for all. We want to hire and retain more counselors, school psychologists, nurses and related service providers to meet the physical, mental and developmental needs of our children. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) has the opportunity to impact students, families and the community if leadership utilizes bargaining for the common good strategies in contract negotiations. 

What Does Bargaining for the Common Good Look Like?

Many major city teachers’ unions have progressive caucuses that operate under social justice unionism frameworks and bargain for the common good. In cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, these caucuses have gained leadership of their unions and put demands in contract negotiations that benefit not just teachers but support staff, students, parents and community members. 

With bargaining for the common good, unions engage with the community and involve all stakeholders in negotiations. This strategy of bargaining prioritizes the need for the union to build community allies and to strengthen its internal membership.  Bargaining for the common good places racial justice at the center of negotiations and goes beyond wage increases to create equity. In the Chicago Public School District, teachers negotiated for 30 new community schools with wraparound services to support the physical, mental, emotional and academic needs of students and their families. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the teachers’ contract included a legal defense fund to support immigrant students and their families. The teachers in LA also demanded and won a housing advisor in every school building to help families secure stable housing. 

To further racial justice, Lake County Federation of Teachers, just north of Chicago, demanded professional development for community-based trainings on the specific linguistic and cultural needs of the community. Many districts, including the St. Paul and Philadelphia Federations of Teachers have demanded an end to zero-tolerance and alternative discipline practices to decrease the school to prison pipeline. Districts demand the hire and retention of more educators of color and an end to unwarranted searches on students, including subjugation to daily metal detector screenings. 

To truly help our students, basic needs must be met. How can the teacher’s contract be used to provide life’s necessities? The St. Paul Federation of Teachers demanded no foreclosures during the school year. They demanded that the district end business with banks that foreclose on families with school-aged children during the school year. Demands to offer services for homeless families, to develop affordable housing and to lobby for better housing legislation came out of LA’s last contract. 

What does bargaining for the common good in Philly look like?

Teachers in Philadelphia can no longer be ridiculed for bargaining in self-interest. Times of the scrutinized, greedy teacher need to end. With 13,000 members, it is time to revitalize and as Cardi B would suggest, use our clout! The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) is the largest union in the city and the second-largest in the state. The role of a teachers’ union is to protect member dignity and student’s well-being. Therefore, the PFT leadership must flex political muscle at the negotiating table to benefit the communities of Philadelphia. 

The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) data reports for the 2018-19 school year indicate that 45% of K-2 students are reading on grade level.  The high school graduation rate for 2018-19 is 69%, with 55% of graduates matriculating college this semester. Lowering class sizes aids in closing the racial achievement gap, improving student behavior and increasing high school graduation rates. 

Performance on the 2018-19 PSSA shows only 27% and 28% of black and LatinX students respectively achieved proficient or advanced on the reading PSSA. Comparatively, these students scored 12% and 14% proficient or advanced on the math PSSA. White and Asian students scored 58% and 64% respectively on reading and 43% and 55% on math. Overall, 59% of economically disadvantaged students scored below basic on math and 44% at basic on reading.  Although, only one measure, these trends are similar in various modes of achievement evaluation. These low scores are the result of the systemic racial inequalities that the city and district perpetuate. 

SDP open data reports that 62% of teachers and just over 50% of all students attend school 95% of the time or more. Low student attendance can equate to poor relationships with teachers. Poor relationships can be a product of the lack of teacher diversity. The black and brown ratio of students to teachers in the SDP is as follows, 49% black students, 22% LatinX students, 25% black teachers and  4% LatinX teachers. Poor working conditions, school closures, low salaries and professional scrutiny contribute to the attendance and staff demography. Hiring more teachers of color proves to narrow the racial achievement gap. Retaining teachers proves to raise the attendance of both students and teachers. The SDP can increase teacher retention with more desirable salaries, most especially for paraprofessionals, and with equitable opportunity for career and education advancement. 

If the PFT negotiators continue to omit effective demands and rely on concessions for these issues, teacher diversity and retention will not improve. Assistant Superintendent of Human Capital for The Boston Public School District, Emily Kalejs Qazilbash, puts it plainly, “You can’t be what you don’t see”. Claiming students of color, who make up the majority of public school students in the nation, need to see themselves in education, starting with teachers. 

Significant improvement in academic achievement of children will not happen until all children, especially people of color, have stable housing, access to healthcare, including services for trauma therapy and restorative justice practices in school and for families. Currently, 26% of people in Philadelphia live in poverty, of this 40% are black. Families need jobs with livable wages and opportunities for advancement in careers and education. The PFT contract can contribute to societal reform. 

How can we accomplish this in Philly?

PFT members can elect new leadership in 2020. After 27 years of stagnation, Philadelphia students, parents, community and district employees need more progressive and aggressive leadership for The PFT. A leadership that will demand conditions our students and educators deserve. The Caucus of Working Educators (WE), a progressive caucus of PFT members, is running a competitive, promising campaign for leadership while reactivating the 13,000 members of the PFT. WE will provide leadership that will lobby city council to end the tax abatement and pursue PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) from institutions such as The University of Pennsylvania that could result in millions of dollars of revenue for the SDP. WE will wage authentic and mutually beneficial community partners to create effective partner and community schools. WE will demand a housing advisor and social worker in every school, anti-racist training and accountability for all staff and recruitment of black educators and sustainable compensation. Finally, The Caucus of Working Educators will reactivate and sustain professionalism and engagement in membership as the sister caucuses of Chicago and LA continue to do. 

As outlined as a key principle from The Bargaining for the Common Good Network, “The campaign doesn’t end once the union settles its contract. Bargaining for the common good is about building long-term community-labor power, not about giving unions some good publicity during a contract fight. The boss doesn’t automatically become a good actor once the contract is settled and the community’s demands don’t become any less important.” 

The Caucus of Working Educators allies with all member, student and community identities and campaigns for a more racially equitable city in which Philadelphia’s children can succeed. 

For more information visit The Caucus of Working Educators website. https://www.workingeducators.org/

Bibliography

Bargaining for the Common Good. (2016, February 18). St. Paul Teachers Bargaining for Better Schools and Stronger Communities. St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bargaining for the Common Good. (2018, December 1). Concrete Examples of Bargaining for the Common Good. Retrieved from Bargaining for the Common Good: https://www.bargainingforthecommongood.org/

Carver-Thomas, D. (2018). Diverifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color. Learning Policy Institute.

McCrystal, L. (2019, September 30). $29.6 billion of Philly real estate is exempt from property taxes. Should nonprofits be asked to pay up? Philadelphia Inquirer .

Moss, J. (2016). Where are all the Teachers of Color? Harvard Ed Magazine .

National Education Association . (2008). Class Size Reduction; A Proven Reform Strategy. Washington D.C.: Center for Great Schools.

School District of Philadelphia . (2019, November 26). District Performance. Retrieved from School District of Philadelphia : https://www.philasd.org/performance/programsservices/open-data/

Will, M. (2019, January 25). The New Flavor of Teacher Strike: More Than Just Pay Raises. Los Angeles, California .