This is what divide and conquer looks like in stress unorganized communities and when i say unorganized i refer to the lack of connect ability in poorly resourced communities. The future of our public education dictates the future for most vulnerable members of our society. We should not be looked at as targets but as human beings with the right to professionally trained educators and support staff. We can defeat the dismantling of public education by Dr. Hites and his supporters when we learn the issues and build allies to correct the problem.
Your calls, emails and tweets are working!
The Latest: Today's Notebook article exposes the hypocrisy, double-talk and lack of professionalism behind the District's divide-and-conquer strategy. Hite is playing both ends to the middle and pitting principals against their staffs by refusing to take a clear public stand on whether the District will take retaliatory punitive measures against educators who took a personal day to participate in the "May Day of Advocacy for Philly public schools."
Summary of Events: After approving all requests for personal days on May 1 AND stating publicly in the press on May 1 that there would be no repercussions for employees, the district emailed administrators on May 11 (10 days later) instructing them to re-code personal days to “Unauthorized Leave without Pay” which would include disciplinary documentation placed in an employee’s file. On May 12 after reading about the district’s aboutface in theInquirer, thousands of PFT members and allies began calling, emailing and tweeting at both Superintendent Hite and Mayor Kenney to ask that they reconsider the retaliatory move.
Hite's convoluted double-talk: “There has not yet been a decision to dock the pay of those who took personal leave on May 1st. We do however plan to support principals who denied leave beforehand because such leave created a hardship at their school. Not until we have all of the information do I plan to decide on whether or not we will take action on any employees.”
Kenney’s supportive response: “Please know that I hope Hite ultimately decides not to dock the pay of these teachers. As they used personal time that they earned to take off that day, I don’t believe it is appropriate for them to be penalized for exercising their 1st amendment rights.”
Our Next Move: We focus on Hite.
Please reach out to Superintendent Hite once again (by phone 215-400-4100, email hite@philasd.org & twitter @SDPHite) and use the hashtags#PFTContractNow #MayDay4Philly:
Dear Dr. Hite,
Please respect the rights of District employees for self-expression -- like you did in Nov 2014 and March 2017. The district set a precedent when it allowed thousands of PFT members to take personal days on election day in Nov 2014, as well as on ‘A Day without a Woman’ earlier this year. That precedent should be followed for the employees who took a personal day to participate in the "May Day of Advocacy." Please issue a public directive that is clear, non-negotiable and consistently enforced at all schools throughout the district upholding this precedent for self-expression.
Please share the responses you receive from Hite so we can gauge our progress. (Email responses to kelleycollings@gmail.com)
Thank you for your commitment and work on behalf of Philly public schools!
Jessica Way, PFT Building Representative at Franklin Learning Center
Kelley Collings, PFT Building Committee member at FSAS and Co-Chair of the Caucus of Working Educators
