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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTeachers Decide To Work For Free After Budget Cuts Leave Pennsylvania School District Without Funds
The Chester Upland School District in Delaware County, Pennsylvania suffered a serious setback when Gov. Tom Corbett (R) slashed $900 million in education funds from the state budget. The cuts landed hardest on poorer districts, and Chester Upland, which predominantly serves African-American children and relies on state aid for nearly 70 percent of its funding, expects to fall short this school year by $19 million.
Faced with such a shortage of funds, the school district informed its staff that it will not be able to pay their salaries come Wednesday. So the teachers decided to work for free. As one teacher put it, students need to be educated, so we intend to be on the job:
At a union meeting at Chester High School on Tuesday night, the employees passed a resolution saying they would stay on as long as we are individually able.
Columbus Elementary School math and literacy teacher Sara Ferguson, who has taught in Chester Upland for 21 years, said after the meeting, Its alarming. Its disturbing. But we are adults; we will make a way. The students dont have any contingency plan. They need to be educated, so we intend to be on the job.
The school board and the unions separately begged Corbett to provide financial aid for the district, but Corbett turned each request down. Pennsylvanias Education Secretary Ron Tomalis told the board that it had failed to properly manage its finances and would not get any additional funds. Chester Upland was forced to lay off 40 percent of its professional staff and about half of its unionized support staff before school began last fall. That leaves 200 professionals and 65 support staff to manage a school with class sizes of over 40 students.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/education/2012/01/06/399373/teachers-work-free-budget-cuts/
Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)but although I can see it in the search results, clicking on it produces a bug. Perhaps others will have better luck)
Search DU for "fire walk with me how the monied"
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)by the rich, about the withdrawal of government support for them resulting in a -need- for privatization.
PETRUS
(3,678 posts)Fire Walk With Me
(38,893 posts)PETRUS
(3,678 posts)It's a topic of particular interest to me.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)When I read posts like this all I want to do is slap the idiots so hard that
all they can see is the vacuum inside their skull
AlinPA
(15,071 posts)in PA. There will be lots of money for private schools though.
proud2BlibKansan
(96,793 posts)but I'm infuriated that they were ever faced with this choice.
What other profession would we even expect to work for FREE?
ClassWarrior
(26,316 posts)Good on you Chester Upland teachers!
NNNGU.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)don't those good old catholics like Santorum get the rich to be taxed more to raise money to help these kids. We are on a fast track to being a 3rd world country. Republicans won't be happy until we have a Charles Dickens lifestyle.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)enough
(13,256 posts)So proud that my state is in the forefront.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)salin
(48,955 posts)this is reality hitting extreme Randian ideology. For profit organizations will not continue to serve where there is no profit.
In my opinion this is more about where the Don't tax anyone or any entity that has money (per the clearly dis-proved theory of trickle down). At some point there is no money to provide basic services.
If I read the Philly article correctly, the initial lay-offs lead to a teacher per pupil ratio of 40:1. For those teachers who "volunteer" to work without pay. I doubt that a whole lot of folks can afford to work with no pay (and presumably no benefits) for very long.
In my opinion this is a story about how the Randian GOP extremism remakes our society. Taxes are lower than in other industrialized/developed county, but provide minimal services - such as no public schools. Because clearly a public school system cannot be maintained by volunteers.