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AFT Pennsylvania opposes any legislation that would permit school and college faculty and staff to be armed while in classrooms and on campuses. "If educators had wanted careers in law enforcement, we would have enrolled in the Police Academy, instead of a School of Education," said AFTPA President Ted Kirsch. "Our job is to educate children and make their lives better." AFTPA supports commonsense programs and resources to make sure that children are safe while at school and on college campuses. Download AFTPA's position. Read More

Governor Tom Wolf gave his fourth budget address today before the PA General Assembly and called on legislators to work together to increase PA's investment in education and programs that ensure that Pennsylvanians have "21st Century skills." His 2018-18 budget would invest an additional $225 million in education and make significant investments in workforce development. Read More

Thanks to the advocacy by AFT Pennsylvania members and the entire labor movement in Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the House defeated Senate Bill 166, an anti-union bill that would have prohibited public employers from negotiating to deduct voluntary PAC contributions from public employees’ paychecks. Read More

The omnibus school code bill, Act 55 of 2017, became law on Nov. 5, 2017. Despite concerns about the furlough provisions, Governor Wolf allowed the bill to become law without his signature to ensure that state funds would be paid on time to public schools and to protect other provisions in the bill, including extending the moratorium on Keystone exams, requiring opioid abuse education and ending “lunch shaming” of students. AFTPA opposed the school code bill because it changes the way layoffs are conducted, places emphasis on a flawed evaluation system and interferes with collective bargaining rights. Read More

Temple Association of University Professionals, Local 4531, members ratified a new collective bargaining agreement that includes adjunct faculty for the first time, with 97 percent of the faculty voting YES! Read More

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AFT Pennsylvania elected Arthur Steinberg president of the statewide teachers union on Sunday at the conclusion of the union’s biennial convention here. Nina Esposito-Visgitis, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, was elected executive vice president. Read More

After years of declining state funding, waste and corruption, the Scranton School District has been made a "recovery district" by the state. With a recovery plan due in May, there's talk of closing schools in the financially struggling, impoverished district. But members of the Scranton Federation of Teachers have joined with community leaders to demand adequate and fair funding. Read more and sign a petition here. Read More

Congratulations to the amazing Faculty and Staff Federation of Community College of Philadelphia, Local 2026, which reached tentative agreements on three contracts Wednesday night, averting a strike that could have disrupted learning forf 27,000 students. Solidarity wins! Read More

PA legislators, college students and union leaders rallied in the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday urging lawmakers to approve a plan that would provide free college education for thousands of students. PA Promise would create a grant program to cover up to four years of tuition at a state owned or state related university or community college for families who make $110,000 annually or less and it would cover tuition, room and board for students whose families make $48,000 or less. Read More

A Janus-related bill (House Bill 785) aimed at weakening public employees' voices and smothering unions in Pennsylvania was voted out of committee but blocked from a vote on the House floor. More post-Janus, anti-union bills possible this session. Read More

AFT Pennsylvania has endorsed U.S. Navy Captain (Ret.) Pam Iovino for the PA Senate District 37 seat formerly held by Republican Guy Reschenthaler. Iovino is running in a special election called after Reschenthaler was elected to the U.S. Congress. Read More