Philly teachers vote to authorize a strike
The PFT's contract expires Aug. 31. Tuesday night's vote represents the first time since 2001 that a strike has been authorized.
The Philadelphia School District’s largest union has authorized its executive board to call a strike if and when board members see fit.
That doesn’t mean the 14,000-member Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is on strike; the union, which represents teachers, school nurses, counselors, secretaries, paraprofessionals, and other workers, merely gave negotiators a tool as talks continue.
Tuesday night’s vote was 94% in favor of strike authorization, 6% against, a union official said.
The PFT contract expires Aug. 31.
Negotiations began several months ago. Talks were scheduled to resume Wednesday.
In March, the PFT laid out the broad strokes of its contract asks to the district and to members — including ending the controversial “3-5-7-9″ sick-day policy that penalizes teachers from taking their contractually earned time.
The teachers union also wants parental leave for members, lower class sizes, and extra pay for educators who teach oversize classes.
Arthur Steinberg, PFT president, said in a release that while the union’s collective bargaining team “has made progress toward an agreement that demonstrably improves members’ working conditions — and thereby bolsters students’ learning conditions — the district has been slower to meet us halfway on key demands by our members."
Noting educator and paraprofessional shortages affecting the U.S. and hitting Philadelphia hard, PFT members are “juggling duties beyond their own job descriptions,” Steinberg said. “The district must make changes that both slow attrition of burned-out employees and attracts teachers and specialists to Philadelphia public schools.”
Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said officials are “optimistic that we will reach an agreement on a successor collective bargaining agreement.”
Steinberg and Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. appear to have a cordial enough relationship; the two plan to travel to Harrisburg together next week “as a team, advocating for lawmakers to pass a budget that gets this district closer to funding adequacy and reforms the charter payment system,” Steinberg said at a recent school board meeting.
Background complications
A strike is certainly not a foregone conclusion; the authorization comes at a tense time in education.
President Donald Trump has threatened funding cuts to education, and the large, under-resourced Philadelphia school system relies on federal dollars to help pay for teachers and programs in its struggling schools.
Philadelphia, which legally cannot raise its own revenue, has a complicated budget picture even without the federal uncertainty. The school board just passed a $4.7 billion budget that will see the district spend $300 million of its reserves to avoid cuts to staff and programs for the 2025-26 school year.
It also projects a deficit beginning the next school year, even without a dime budgeted for PFT salary increases.
The last time the PFT went on strike was 2000, amid a state takeover, though it lasted just a weekend. The last significant teachers strike in Philadelphia happened in 1981.
The strike vote was the first time the PFT has taken such action since 2001.
“The 14,000 members of the PFT are unified in our fight for a strong contract that rewards their training and hard work, and improves students’ learning conditions in every public school in the city of Philadelphia,” Steinberg said. “We’re committed to winning a contract that respects public school educators, and gives families peace of mind that the next school year will begin on time and seamlessly, just as Philly school students deserve.”
The 2024-25 school year ended Friday. Teachers and other school staff are scheduled to report for the first day of the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 18; the first day of classes is Aug. 25.