District, union okay two-month contract extension

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

[Updated, 6:00 pm] The School District and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) have just announced a 60-day contract extension, which both sides say will permit them "to focus on a successful and smooth opening of the 2009-2010 school year." The contract was due to expire next Monday.

The extension doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given that there is still no state budget or firm sense of how much money the District will have to offer the teachers.

Plus, there are apparently many thorny issues on the table, including pay-for-performance, a longer school day and year, and changes in how teachers are assigned and evaluated.

According to a joint statement released this afternoon, "This extension agreement maintains for teachers and other PFT members the same wages, health benefits, and working conditions stipulated under the agreement currently in effect."

The statement adds that both sides "are committed to working together to negotiate a multiyear contract that will improve academic outcomes for the District’s students while creating the best possible working environment for the District’s dedicated teachers and other employees."

This contract was extended from last fall, when Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, then newly appointed, asked for more time so the two sides could discuss substantive issues.

Ackerman and School Reform Commission chairman Robert Archie have at times expressed a willingness to unilaterally impose terms on the union in some areas, including teacher assignment and the length of the workday, powers given to them under the state takeover law. But recently, Ackerman indicated that she was hoping for a negotiated settlement.

Update: In a phone interview, PFT President Jerry Jordan acknowledged, "The lack of having a budget really impacts on negotiations."

He also said, in answer to a question, that little progress has been made on some of the non-economic issues.

"I don’t know how to measure progress yet. We are having lengthy discussions, days on some issues, but we haven’t gotten there yet." On some unspecified topics, he did say "we’re moving in a positive direction."

The School District did not make anyone available for an interview.