Resources for COVID-19 Response
For more information about AFT and AFT Pennsylvania's response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Statement on Governor Wolf’s Announcement of Charter School Reforms
Plymouth Meeting, PA, Tuesday, August 13, 2019 – Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the more than 36,000 members of the Commonwealth’s statewide affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers on Tuesday:
“We are very encouraged by Governor Wolf’s announcement today that he will back legislation to address commonsense charter school reforms in Pennsylvania, including transparency requirements, a cap on cyber charter enrollment and a moratorium on new cyber charter schools.
Gov. Wolf announces millions in funding to fix environmental hazards in Philly schools
"Standing in the library of an Overbrook elementary school, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday announced the state would spend $4.3 million to help remove lead paint from Philadelphia public schools.
Including the millions the state paid last year to complete such projects, that means Pennsylvania has allocated almost $12 million to fixing environmental hazards in the Philadelphia School District.
Weingarten: Educators must save democracy
“Teachers have always had power,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told the crowd at the TEACH opening plenary Thursday afternoon. “We need to own our power. And we need to build our power so we can move our agenda—for our students and our families; for safe, welcoming and well-funded public schools; for affordable higher education; healthcare that is a right, not a privilege; a living wage; a decent retirement; a healthy climate and a strong democracy.”
Best economy ever?
In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest column in the New York Times, she writes that, despite President Trump’s claims that we have the “best economy ever,” his policies are harming working and middle-class Americans, many of whom are struggling just to get by. “Our political and economic systems are so weighted toward the wealthy that opportunity will only come through the power of collective action,” she writes, using “the surest vehicles to increase opportunity for ordinary Americans”—public education, labor unions and voting. Read the full column.
Bill raising teachers' salaries stalled
A push to raise the state's minimum teacher salary has become a bipartisan effort, but it appears to not be enough to ensure a key piece of Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal will make it into the final version of the spending document.
York CTE support staff wins 5-year deal
York Vocational Technical Support Staff has ratified a five-year contract that provides for annual raises, increased longevity pay and a small deductible increase in the 2020-21 school year.