Madness as Teachers Storm School District Offices

It was a sometimes festive, sometimes angry and consistently passionate atmosphere at the School District of Philadelphia headquarters this afternoon.

Hundreds of teachers congregated in the area in front of 440 N. Broad St. at about 4:30 p.m., creating a veritable sea of red on the steps and sidewalk. (The union's shirts are red.) Many were holding signs that said things like "I Teach, What's Your Superpower?" and "Students Need Their Teachers." They were there for a rally organized by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) that was intended to protest the mass layoffs of educators throughout the district before an SRC meeting later on.

The district sent out pink slips to teachers early last week, but they were temporarily revoked after a judge sided with PFT in a lawsuit and issued an injunction that put them on hold. The union contended that the school district violated the contract between the two parties by issuing the layoffs in the way it did. PFT will meet the school district in Common Pleas Court Tuesday for a hearing on the matter.

But union officials made sure the school district heard them loud and clear before then.

"PFT! PFT!" they chanted before the rally began, as cars passing by honked their horns. Others modified a popular chant, singing "we are the union, the mighty mighty union."

The union's president, Jerry Jordan, told the crowd he'd address the SRC meeting soon afterward before yielding the floor to speakers like Rob McGrogan and George Ricchezza, the presidents of two different unions that represent school district employees. (McGrogan's union represents school administrators, while Ricchezza's covers workers like bus drivers and maintenance employees.)

Both criticized the district and the SRC.

"How do you get from a balanced budget to a deficit today?" Ricchezza asked, referring to the time of the SRC's creation, when the district wasn't in the red. "They have failed the children of Philadelphia."

"Horrible!" some in the audience shouted. Then, as Jordan encouraged the crowd to come inside to the SRC meeting, the masses began to walk up the steps and into the building, singing to the tune of "Glory, Glory Hallelujah."

"Solidarity forever!" many belted at the tops of their voices. "The union makes us strong!"

It was chaos inside the building. Some teachers took the elevator to the second floor, where the meeting was about to take place, but most opted to take the stairs, where the line to get in quickly was backed up. Soon afterward, police officers informed the large crowd that the room had already reached capacity and that they wouldn't be allowed to watch the meeting in person.

"Let us in! Let us in!" the crowd chanted as it waited outside the room's doors, which were guarded by several officers. Jordan eventually emerged from inside the building and exhorted the teachers to head downstairs to watch the meeting on a screen in an auditorium.

There was a bit of discontent among those in attendance, but the group eventually went to the first floor. They didn't have to wait long before Jordan spoke inside the meeting.

About 320 special education teachers would be laid off under the district's proposal, and the district would lose about 115 English teachers and 120 math instructors. 

Jordan said that's a major problem.

"With the cuts you've made, I fear you are preparing today's students for failure," he said, as the crowd went wild.

Soon afterward, the union head appeared on the second-floor catwalk as more cheers erupted.

The crowd dispersed after that, aside from about 40 teachers who stayed inside the SRC meeting. The ones who left, though, weren't entirely optimistic that their rally would make a big difference.

"I hope (it does), but I'm not sure if they're smart," said one K-2 teacher, who asked that she not be identified for fear of reprisal. "All they want to do is cut, cut, cut and take everything.

"They treat it like a business, and you can't treat the school district like a business," the teacher continued. "You can't worry about just the money. You have to worry about the baggage the kids come with."