Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Masters +30 and Senior Career Teacher Salary Upgrades for PFT Members



Fellow PFT members:

Don’t let your salary losses accumulate more than they have to (see this chart compiled by the Caucus of Working Educators). You can move up a lane IMMEDIATELY to Masters +30 and, once you hit your 10-year anniversary, submit your paperwork for Senior Career Teacher.

This will significantly help minimize the amount of money you may have lost during the status quo contract freeze from 2013-17 and help you recoup much of that salary. There is a loophole in our newest Collective Bargaining Agreement - so make sure to take advantage!

You can examine the current Salary Schedule here.
(If you are not sure what salary schedule you are at, you can either multiply BASE pay on your paycheck by 21.7 or click here to go to the District's Open Data and search for your name under Employee Information. All of our salaries are public information.)

You can examine the District's requirements and protocol (both Masters + 30 and Senior Career) for Salary Upgrades here.

Once you have completed enough graduate credits (90 credits above your Bachelors, after having obtained a Masters) for Senior Career then make sure you have dual certification. You can view Teaching Certificates offered in PA here (Note: K-12 Certificates already pre-qualify as dual cert.)

You can register for your Praxis Exam here.

Finally, the following is just a short list of online courses priced under $400 for 3 credits. If you find more, please leave them in the comments section for others to see and so that I can edit this list as time goes on.


MAKE SURE TO VERIFY THAT A UNIVERSITY IS ACCREDITED BY CLICKING HERE AND SEARCHING FOR THE INSTITUTION PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT!


  • Andrews, Greenville, and Loyola Marymount through Advancement Courses (3 Graduate credits for $449) Up to 15% discount until July 14th using promo code SUM10 (10% for 1 or 2 courses) or SUM15 (15% for 3+ courses) https://www.advancementcourses.com/
  • Augustana, Colorado St. Pueblo, Lourdes, Marygrove, Pacific Lutheran through Learners Edge (3 Graduate credits for $425) Get $70 off each course until July 30th using promo PHLSDSU1707 (ordering one course) or PHLSDSU1754 (order two or more) http://www.learnersedgeinc.com/





Sunday, April 2, 2017

PFT Contract Letters through PONY

As many of you may recall, the PFT members at Central High School and the Caucus of Working Educators initiated a letter writing campaign in October in order to pressure the SRC and Dr. Hite to get back to the negotiating table.

In light of the recent news that the School District will be getting an additional $65million in recurring funding from reassessed commercial property taxes under the city's Added Value Initiative (AVI), it is vital that the District make whole the members of the PFT who have sacrificed so much by going without a wage adjustment since 2012.

It's time for a contract settlement.

Please print the following letters based on the PFT email campaign, include your own personal sacrifices, then place in an envelope and PONY the message to 440 North Broad.


Let's keep up the pressure and make sure this monetary windfall is put to good use by finally ending this devastating contract stalemate!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Billboard Update: Philly Teachers Deserve a Contract


First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to making the billboard a reality.

Here is the new fundraising site, designed to keep the billboard up on Interstate 95 for as long as it takes.

Please donate here: https://chuffed.org/project/philly-teachers-deserve-a-contract

Also, feel free to share the media coverage links and and photos below on social media or otherwise in order to keep up the pressure.

The hardworking members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers deserve a
FAIR CONTRACT NOW!

LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE BILLBOARD:

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20170227_Commentary__Philly_s_underfunded_schools__undervalued_teachers.html
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Teachers-Billboard-415193813.html
http://www.fox29.com/news/235836378-story
http://6abc.com/education/phila-teacher-slams-school-district-with-crowdfunded-billboard/1779708/
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/03/02/teacher-raises-money-for-billboard-that-rips-city-school-district/
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Teacher-billboard-95-call-out-mayor-SRC-superintendent-.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Billboard-shaming-Kenney-Philly-mayor-SRC-coming-soon-teacher-reaches-fundraising-goal.html
http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-teachers-crowd-funded-billboard-blasts-city-school-district-officials/
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2017/02/20/central-high-teacher-s-billboard-campaign-a-success
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/pennsylvania/articles/2017-03-02/philadelphia-teacher-puts-up-billboard-criticizing-district
http://kutv.com/news/offbeat/teacher-slams-philadelphia-school-district-in-billboard
http://cwlasvegas.com/news/offbeat/teacher-slams-philadelphia-school-district-in-billboard
http://www.fox29.com/news/242906296-story
https://redd.it/60d0ww
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/03/02/philadelphia-teacher-puts-up-billboard-criticizing_ap.html
http://news4sanantonio.com/news/offbeat/teacher-slams-philadelphia-school-district-in-billboard




Saturday, February 11, 2017

Billboard: Philly Teachers Deserve A Contract!



The hardworking members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers have gone without a raise for over 5 years while the School District of Philadelphia refuses to negotiate a fair contract for its workforce. Meanwhile, the city and state have neglected their duty to properly fund our schools so that this matter can finally be settled.

As each month passes with no agreement in sight, Philadelphia loses more and more great educators to other surrounding districts. It is the over 100,000 children in the district, however, who suffer the most because of this lack of a stable workforce.

It’s time to call out our city and school officials for allowing this calamity to continue. The fundraiser started this week seeks to place a billboard on I-95 that will publicly shame the School Reform Commission, Superintendent Hite, and Mayor Kenney for their inability to get a fair contract settled.

A GoFundMe page with the explicit purpose of raising the funds has been created to crowdsource donations from teachers and other allies of public school educators.


The fundraiser will be extended on a month to month basis, as we continue to publicly shame the school district and the city, until a fair agreement is finally reached with the PFT.

Enough is enough – our schools, our students and our educators deserve better.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Teachers Rally for Students at Central High School



On a frigid Friday morning, the hardworking members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers at Central High School made it a point to welcome their students as they arrived for a day of studies.

Our pupils were greeted by cheering educators and a large banner as they trekked up the hill at the corner of Olney and Ogontz. The banner, which was signed by nearly 100 staff members, read:

We support our students regardless of
Immigration Status
Country of Origin
Religion
Sexual or Gender Identity
Race or Ethnicity
Political Beliefs
We stand together as ONE Central HS!!

Central has long had the honor of being the oldest public school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the second oldest in the country. We were recently further honored by being recognized as the most diverse public school in the nation. Our student body, faculty and administration represent countless countries, languages, faiths and cultures.

We are proud to teach in such an environment.

We believe in an inclusive, diverse and welcoming society and will continue to build these values in our classrooms as we encourage our students to analyze the world around themselves during these months of political transition.

We hope that other schools will join us.