Article
- News
AFTPA Applauds Cyber-Charter Funding Bill
AFTPA supports a proposal by PA Rep. James Roebuck that would change the way the state funds cyber-charter schools and return nearly $400 million to public schools - without raising taxes.
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Article
- Legislation
Talking Points: Protect Retirement Security
Know the facts about school and state employee pensions. Click MORE to read and download AFTPA Pension Talking Points. Then contact your state legislators and write letters to the editors of local newspapers to protect our pensions.
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Article
- Legislation
Fast Facts: PA's teacher evaluation law
In 2012, Gov. Corbett signed Act 82, requiring the Secretary of Education to establish a new, statewide rating system for evaluating teachers and principals. The teacher rating system goes into effect in September 2013, and we are waiting for PDE to release details of how the new system will work. Click below to learn what Act 82 says.
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Gov. Corbett's pension plan: Fewer Benefits for Retirees; Higher Cost to Taxpayers
"Gov. Corbett’s pension reform proposal doesn’t stand up to economic scrutiny. It doesn’t make sense logically; it has been discredited actuarially; and it hasn’t worked in reality where it has been tried,” AFTPA President Ted Kirsch said.
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- Press
Fuzzy pension logic - a lose-lose for retirees, workers, taxpayers
Ted Kirsch says the governor's fuzzy pension math hurts retirees, employees and taxpayers after the Keystone Research Center releases two pension White Papers showing that Gov. Corbett's proposals would dramatically reduce benefits for retirees, while increasing the cost to taxpayers significantly.
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Governor proposes cutting teacher, state worker pensions
UPDATED FEB. 22 - Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Nina Esposito-Visgitis urged Gov. Corbett and the legislature in an op-ed in the Post-Gazette to "let Act 120 pension reforms work" instead of enacting "reforms" that would undermine stable and secure retirements for thousands of school and state employees. Add your voice to Nina's by emailing your legislators to urge them not to cut pension benefits for teachers, counselors, college faculty, nurses, school bus drivers and state employees. Email your legislator now.
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Governor's Budget Address - Tuesday, 11:30 am
Find out what Gov. Corbett will propose in his 2013-14 budget address on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Watch and listen live to find out how it will affect you, your school, your family and your job.
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Kirsch accuses Corbett of using kids, schools as pawns in privatization fight
Headlines across the state declared: " Corbett to play hardball on pension reform;" after state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby told the Pennsylvania Press Club that the administration plans to cut the pensions of current school employees. AFTPA President Ted Kirsch accused the governor of "using public schools, students and teachers as pawns to advance an privatization agenda." Read Ted's statement...
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Kirsch: Kids vs Retirees - the governor's false choice
“Gov. Corbett’s plan to pit grandparents against grandchildren in a fight over budget scraps this session is nothing more than a cynical attempt to shift the blame for more than a billion dollars in education budget cuts onto working and retired teachers, and other public employees," Ted Kirsch, AFTPA president said Friday.
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- Legislation
What You Can Do To Protect Your Pension
Click here to find out 5 things you can do to protect public employee pensions.
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Article
- Legislation
Pension Talking Points
Most Pennsylvanians don't know that school, college and other public employees contribute to their pensions or that defined-benefit pensions like the ones PSERS and SERS members have are more less expensive for taxpayers and keep retired public employees off of public assistance. Read more AFTPA Pension Talking Points and share the information with friends, family members, co-workers and lawmakers.
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Pension 'reforms' could be hazardous to your financial security
The Corbett administration has declared war on the teachers' and public employees' pension systems. Calling the nearly 100-year-old pension systems a "tapeworm," Gov. Corbett said pension "reform" is a top priority this year. Find out what this means for your future financial security.
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We need more books, not more guns
“Samuel Gompers said it in the late 1800s, and it’s still true today. ‘We need more books not more guns," Ted Kirsch said in a statement released today after the National Rifle Association held a news conference recommending armed police officers be stationed in every public school in the country to protect students.
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Statement on PA Budget Office's Pension Report
The Corbett administration is using scare tactics, exaggerations and misinformation to convince the public that public employee pensions must be cut or eliminated to prevent state pension funds from consuming tax dollars that should go to schools, roads and other vital services. Read
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Neshaminy Teachers Keep Working, Keep Negotiating
Neshaminy Federation of Teachers began the new year by meeting to discuss the latest contract offer from the School Board, with a majority of the at the meeting rejecting a motion calling for a formal vote on the district's offer.
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Article
- CSPE
AFTPA launches political action committee
AFTPA has launched the Committee to Support Public Education - CSPE - the union's political action fund to help elect candidates who share our values and will vote with us on key issues .
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Article
- Press
Budget cuts responsible for lower 2011-12 test scores, Kirsch says
AFTPA President Ted Kirsch calls out PA Education Secretary after he blamed a statewide drop in test scores on cheating.
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Ted Kirsch Press Release for NFT
Statement from Ted Kirsch, President, AFT Pennsylvania in support of teachers on strike in Neshaminy
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