Article
- Locals
Barrack Hebrew Academy Faculty Ratifies 5-Year Contract
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy Faculty Association today approved a new, five-year contract with the private Jewish day school, providing for raises totaling 10 percent over the life of the contract.
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Article
- Press
3 Strikes Against Corbett-Tobash Pension Plan
AFT PA President Ted Kirsch says the Corbett-Tobash pension plan has three strikes against it. It won't save money. It won't pay down the pension debt. And, even worse, it decimates teachers' and public workers' retirement security. Read Ted's statement and the Keystone Research Center critique.
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Article
- Resources
Budget, Pension, Privatization Spokesperson Workshops
The PA AFL-CIO is training rank-and-file union members across the state to be spokespeople on key issues this June. Learn about labor's messages, and help get the word out.
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Article
- Press
AFTPA Unanimously Endorses Tom Wolf for PA Governor
By unanimous vote Wednesday, the AFTPA Executive Council endorsed Tom Wolf for Governor. “Tom Wolf will reclaim the promise of public education, making it his top priority,” said AFTPA President Ted Kirsch.
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Article
- News
PFT, PCAPS Release Results of Survey on Local Control of Public Schools
The PFT and PCAPS are calling for dissolving the School Reform Commission in favor of a locally accountable school board
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Article
- News
PA Residents Agree: Invest in Public Education
A survey of Pennsylvanians by Terry Madonna's Opinion Research group found that 71 percent of Pennsylvanians believe the state needs to make a bigger investment in public education.
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Article
- News
Philly charter school ratifies union contract
Members of the Alliance of Charter School Employees at Wakisha Charter School in Philadelphia (AFTPA Local 6056) ratified a new union contract unanimously.
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Article
- Legislation
Why young teachers want traditional pensions
The conventional wisdom that young workers don’t care about pensions was turned on its ear by the Great Recession. A Towers Watson survey found that people under 40 are working for and staying with employers that provide defined benefit (DB) pensions. Find out why retirement security matters to younger employees, too.
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Article
- News
The need for seniority
Seniority has less to do with teacher placements and promotions and has everything to do with fairness and objectivity in hiring decisions, says Lisa Haver, a retired Philadelphia teacher and active PFT member, in a recent op-ed in the Philadelphia Daily News.
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Article
- About Us
About Our Charter School Local
AFT Pennsylvania has a local representing charter school teachers and staff. Learn more about Local 6056, the Alliance of Charter School Employees.
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Article
- News
Protesters Demand: Fund Philly Schools
It was an awe-inspiring sight in Philadelphia Thursday (Aug. 22) as thousands of students, parents, teachers and school staff clad in iconic red T-shirts marched from Comcast headquarters and around City Hall to rally outside school district headquarters for full, fair and sustainable funding for public schools.
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Article
- Press
Parents want strong neighborhood schools, study says
AFT released a new survey of parents that shows that parents want politicians to support neighborhood public schools. Ted Kirsch released the following statement about the study.
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Article
- Press
Budget fails education, pushes PA backwards -- Kirsch
AFTPA President Ted Kirsch says the 2013-14 PA budget doesn't reflect the hopes or the priorities of Pennsylvanians.
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Article
Neshaminy Teachers Ratify Contract
Members of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers voted overwhelmingly Monday night to ratify the tentative agreement on a new contract reached last week with the Neshaminy School Board.
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Article
- News
Watch the Harrisburg School Funding Rally Video
http://youtu.be/X6hp51cBT6w Tuesday, June 25, more than 2,000 and parents, students, clergy and AFTPA members traveled to Harrisburg from across Pennsylvania tell lawmakers to restore the billiion-dollar education budget cuts to save our public schools, community colleges and universities.
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Article
- Press
AFTPA Urges Senators to Oppose Pension Reform
In the face of mounting evidence that the pension reform bills under consideration would cost taxpayers more money, provide retirees with inferior benefits and face expensive court battles, AFT Pennsylvania urges lawmakers to reject pension reform bills and allow Act 120 to gradually restore public pension plans to full funding.
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Article
- News
AFTPA Calls for a Moratorium on Common Core, High-Stakes Testing and Teacher Evaluation
AFT Pennsylvania joined with state Senate Democrats in calling for a moratorium on the requirements for students, teachers and schools associated with the new Common Core State Standards on Monday.
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Article
- News
School Safety: Funding and Safety are Linked, AFTPA Testifies
SCRANTON (April 4, 2013) – AFTPA Executive Vice President Rosemary Boland testified before the House Democratic Policy Committee on school safety, saying it’s impossible to discuss school safety without addressing school funding issues.
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Article
- News
AFTPA, PSEA Hold Annual Higher Ed Conference
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA (April 12, 2013) -- Higher education union leaders from across Pennsylvania met last weekend to discuss higher education funding, the difficulty of negotiating contracts in the current political and economic climate, rising college student debt and other issues at the annual AFT Pennsylvania-PSEA Higher Education Coalition Conference.
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Article
- Legislation
'Mandate Relief' bill proposed in PA House; AFTPA is neutral but monitoring
AFTPA is monitoring mandate relief legislation (House Bill 135), which would reinstate a Mandate Relief Program from 2000-2010 and does not include the harsh, anti-union features of similar bills proposed in the previous legislative session.
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