A Miracle on North Broad Street

Here is my Christmas testimony to the SRC from December 17, 2015.

If it gets you into the giving mood of the holidays, please consider donating some money to the campaign efforts of the Caucus of Working Educators in the upcoming internal Philadelphia Federation of Teachers election. You can also join our organization as a supporting member.

Thank you, and enjoy the Holiday Season!




‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city
The SRC was busy pondering things not so pretty.
Something was stirring from this unelected creature
Like canceling the contract of each and every teacher!
Shared sacrifice is what we heard from dear old Bill Hite
But he got a $30,000 raise and new contract in the middle of the night.
Assistant superintendents were nestled snug in their beds
With visions of $10,000 bonuses dancing in their heads.

Meanwhile, principals searched for substitutes from far and near
While children went to buildings with no nurses nor cheer.
School closures had become the disturbing new norm
With no counselors or libraries to weather the storm.

When out on 440 there arose such a clatter
The PFT sprang to see what’s the matter.
Two Mayoral appointees and from the Governor three,
I knew in a moment it must be the SRC!

Now, Farrah! Now, Jiminez! With Charter School gain
To her husband’s law firm, she’s forced to abstain.

Now, Sylvia! Now, Simms! Comcast pays for her bills
But yelling at “failing school children” is what gives her her thrills.

Now, Bill! Now, Green! The most condescending to bother
Demoted by Wolf, Do you still dream of being Mayor like your father?

Now, Feather! Now, Houstoun! By Corbett appointed
With no clear credentials, why was she anointed?

Now, Marjorie! Now, Neff! Perhaps the most able
So cancel the lawyers and get back to the negotiating table!

Unelected and resented for fifteen years did they work
Filled with Eli Broad’s nonsense, often turned with a jerk.
And so, in 2015, as Huey, Cooke, and Wister awaited their fate
Something magical happened on that cold December date...

That Christmas, the SRC did themselves vote to dissolve!!!
As the community, parents, and teachers cheered with resolve
Filling 440 with warmth from their hearts to their toes
They grabbed Dr. Hite and up the chimney they rose.
As they sprang to their sleigh and soon gave a whistle
Away they all flew like an unwelcome missile.
The SRC did exclaim as they disappeared out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to Philadelphia a good night!”

Democracy in Philadelphia's Schools

Last month, numerous PFT members in the Caucus of Working Educators decided to speak truth to power at the School Reform Commission meeting held by the School District of Philadelphia. The unelected and undemocratic SRC has held the teachers, students, and city of Philadelphia hostage for the past 15 years. Inspired by my fellow union sisters and brothers, I decided to address the SRC as well.

For those who are one of the 11,000 members in the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers:
Please be aware that there will soon be an internal PFT election. Ballots will be mailed to your house sometime in February. You must vote by completing the ballot, then mail it back in the self-addressed envelope. Familiarize yourself with the entire WE slate (I am running as Legislative Representative) and our platform. The incumbent CB slate (currently led by PFT President Jerry Jordan, who hasn't been in the classroom since 1987) has held power since 1983 and not seen a credible challenge to their position in all of those years. I humbly ask that you vote for the WE slate but, whoever you vote for...

PLEASE VOTE AND MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD!

For those of you who are friends, parents, community members, or teachers:

Please consider donating to the election efforts of the Caucus of Working Educators. It will take a lot of time, effort, and supplies to bring change to the largest union in Philadelphia but, with your help, we can bring an end to the status quo unionism of the past three decades!

Thank you.

George Bezanis SRC testimony - October 15, 2015 from Ken Derstine on Vimeo.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the SRC,

My name is George Bezanis. I am a History teacher at Central High School, a proud member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the PFT’s Caucus of Working Educators, and a Philadelphia public school parent. 

I have also been democratically elected by my fellow citizens as a Committeeperson in the 63rd Ward, the PFT Building Representative at Central High School, and the President of the Fox Chase Homeowners Association.

Democracy.
That is the one word that seems to terrify this body the most. Not one of you has been placed in this position of power through the process that this nation has been built upon. You refuse to use democratic methods when determining what to do with schools that have been starved of resources. You refuse to listen to the voices of the parents, community members, and teachers you are meant to be representing. And finally, you mock the democratic citizens of this city by using Independence Hall in the School Reform Commission’s logo. Guantanamo Bay would have been a better choice.

Democracy.
Last year when, for the first time, this body finally decided to ask parents at Muñoz-Marin and Steele Elementary what they wanted, the democratic process showed that they had clearly rejected two of the fastest growing charter providers in this city, ASPIRA and Mastery. And so, what did Superintendent Hite and this body decide to do with this newest round of school closures? Parents are no longer allowed to vote because, God forbid, they may not vote the way you tell them to. You’ve had enough. It’s time to back off from the dreaded D-word.

Democracy.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we’ve had enough of you. Three of you were appointed to this position by Tom Corbett - a Governor so unpopular that, for the first time in modern Pennsylvania history, he was unable to win re-election. He left. You stayed. Governor Wolf was elected last November on a platform that specifically called for your disbandment. You stayed. The citizens of this city voted, by an incredible 96% majority referendum, to get rid of you in May. You stayed. Members of the School Reform Commission: You’re like bad dinner party guests who just won’t leave. Your food has been served, you’ve had your fill, you’ve spilled a few drinks, so go away already.


Democracy.
I want you to think about that word for a second and, for once, act like an American, not as a member of the SRC, or a political appointee. This isn’t North Korea or Saudi Arabia. This is Philadelphia. The United States of America. It’s time for you to return control of these schools to 
WE THE PEOPLE.


It’s time for you to vote to dissolve this sham of a school board.

  George Bezanis

gbezanis@gmail.com

Letter to the PFT Contract Negotiating Team

The following letter was drafted and signed by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Building Committee at Central High School in early June 2015. Addressed to the PFT's Negotiating Team and signed by a majority of the PFT members in the school, these are words of resolve and encouragement as we continue to demand a fair contract.

UPDATE: Today we received Jerry's response.

Losing My Virginity to the SRC

Today, the School Reform Commission of the School District of Philadelphia decided to honor the A.S.A.P. Debate League with an award. As the Debate Coach at Central High School and the Site Organizer of the entire league, I was also included in these honors.

Later on in the meeting, I decided to speak to the SRC - the nervous first time I have ever done so - inspired by my many fellow coworkers, colleagues, and friends in the PFT's Caucus of Working Educators who have had the courage to speak out at numerous other SRC Meetings before me.

You are my muses.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the SRC,

I appeared in front of you earlier in this meeting as a teacher, Debate Coach and Site Organizer for the entire A.S.A.P. League matches at Central High School. I posed for a photograph and accepted your award.

I am also a proud member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the PFT’s Caucus of Working Educators, a public school parent, and a locally elected Democratic committeeperson in the 63rd Ward. These many hats shouldn’t come as a surprise though. We all wear them…

Whether we have never spent a day as a public educator but, instead, run charities for millionaires in the Wyncote Foundation and are appointed by a Republican governor who never dared step foot in a Philadelphia school…

Whether we say we advocate for children, but in the meantime collect a paycheck from Comcast while yelling at students that they “Must attend failing schools!”

Whether we claim to be an objective member of an unelected school board, but must recuse ourselves from every other vote because our husband’s law firm has ties to charter schools throughout the district…

Whether we dream of being mayor like our father, and just see this as another political stepping stone…

Whether we’re the only person on this mockery of a democratic institution who has actually worked in a classroom and, as a result, voted NO on every charter authorization vote. Thank you, Marge!

And finally, whether you are yet another Eli Broad Academy superintendent seeking to “narrow the achievement gap” by shutting down schools. A superintendent who takes a 10% pay cut but then secretly reinstates it one year later.

Do you know how much my pay cut was last year? I didn’t get paid for running the Debate program, but continued to do so (free of charge) because I had to look my students in the eyes – not you. As we approach yet another September without a contract, my total lost step and degree wages are now approaching $15,000.

Meanwhile, this body votes in new charters it can’t afford, continues to hire 6-figure employees, extend contracts to Teach For America, and refuses to lobby for PILOT payments, abatement reform, or “interest rate swap” renegotiation.

Instead, you say that the PFT needs to give back. Don’t pretend to thank teachers like myself by giving them awards at the beginning of an SRC meeting, and then secretly voting to take away my contract.

If you really want to thank teachers like me, forget the cheap photo-op and
 Get back to the negotiating table!

Give us a fair contract! 

Then, hopefully, you can
  Vote to dissolve this sham of a school board!

180 Days of Instruction... Are You Sure?

I am a history teacher at Central High School and methodically pace my classes. Frankly, I have no choice. There’s a lot of material to cover in World History. My curriculum and professional duties call for teaching students everything from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa’s Great Rift Valley to the collapse of the Soviet Union and rise of US hegemony – all in one academic year. It’s a daunting task but one that can be accomplished if I follow the rigorous pacing guideline I’ve set for myself during Pennsylvania's legally mandated 180 school days. This year, however, I’ve found myself falling further and further behind and I had no idea why… until I looked at the School District’s academic calendar.

For the 2014-15 academic year, the School District of Philadelphia has set aside an unprecedented 16 professional development half-days for high schools. Elementary school teachers have it worse and are burdened by a whopping 19 half-days. By comparison, in the 2013-14 academic year, high schools had 8 half-days and elementary schools had 11.

The vast majority of these new half-days are meant to roll out the state-of-the-art Harrisburg-mandated teacher improvement system, also known as the “SLO” in teaching circles. Incidentally, according to a recent poll of over 1000 teachers, only 9% believe the SLO process will improve their teaching. Even less, 6%, actually believe that the SLO process respects educators' professional knowledge and skills... but I digress.

The other six half days (9 for elementary schools) are meant to be parent-teacher conference days – during the workday from 12:00 to 3:00pm. (These are in addition to the two parent-teacher evenings we host each academic year.) Needless to say, hardly any parents are able to make it to these afternoon sessions because, wonder of wonders, they actually have to work. These days of even more squandered education end up being nothing more than a building full of teachers who wait for the parents that inevitably never arrive.

In addition to this wasted instructional time, Harrisburg has also mandated that we begin issuing standardized Keystone Exams (at a cost to local taxpayers of $176 million) to all high school students on a yearly basis. Last year, we were required to test students in three subjects, resulting in two more half-days per exam administration, for an additional total of 6. Eventually, Harrisburg has indicated they would like students to be tested in a total of 10 Keystone Exams, likely resulting in 20 more half-days by decade’s end.

Finally, the School District of Philadelphia is so technologically inept that it requires teachers to enter students’ final grades over a week before school is over. They claim that they need time to print report cards, send them to schools, and allow for teachers to hand them out. Every other district in the area either posts grades online or mails out the report card, but I guess Philadelphia needs to save on postage costs in order to pay for Superintendent Hite’s recent $30,000 raise. In 2014-15, this discrepancy between the time the online grading system shuts down (June 10^th) and when students are still legally required to attend school in order to reach that threshold of 180 days (June 17^th) will result in another 5 days of lost instruction.

In total, when one adds up the required SLO half-days, pointless mid-afternoon parent teacher days, mandated 3 Keystone Exam administrations, and lost end of the school year days, I am losing 22 half days and 5 full days of instruction. That is 16 days of lost instruction, or over 3 weeks of classes when students are not learning.

In fact, if the state has its way and instates all 10 Keystone Exams, I will soon be losing 23 days of instruction, or nearly 5 full weeks of precious time with students. An entire month of lost education… and for what?

As the School District’s contract negotiating team continues to demand that the members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers teach a longer school year, I have a demand of my own: Stop wasting my time with useless “professional development” half-days, standardized test administration, and bureaucratic incompetence. If not, then instead of analyzing why the Soviet Union collapsed and how the 21^st century was shaped, my students will be left believing that the last major event on the world stage was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Are Philly Teachers On Par?

THIS ARTICLE CAN BE ACCESSED AND DOWNLOADED FROM THE PFT'S CAUCUS OF WORKING EDUCATORS WEBSITE. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE IT TO COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS.

SRC Chair Bill Green, Mayor Michael Nutter, and Governor Tom Corbett have recently said that the reason they decided to impose contract terms on the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is because, unlike other school districts in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia teachers do not contribute toward health care. Philadelphia teachers, they claim, have not sacrificed enough for the children of Philadelphia.

The number Green, Nutter, Corbett, and the SRC have been throwing around is that it will only cost Philadelphia teachers 5-13% of the insurance premium, or approximately $25-$75 a month - a reasonable request. What they fail to mention, however, is that that particular quote is for a single individual under a high deductible plan. Under the District’s new benefits, the SRC is now eliminating their previously cheaper Keystone HMO 15 $0 deductible plan. The new standard plan, Personal Choice 320, has higher deductibles and only covers 90% of inpatient hospital costs. This move deceptively forces teachers to “buy-up” to the Personal Choice 20/30/70 plan, which costs $24,239.64 per year ($2019.97 x 12). 

For someone who earns $55,000, the resulting $6319 yearly premium amounts to a 26% contribution (not 13% as quoted in the papers) and is, in fact, a 11.5% pay-cut for a Philadelphia teacher earning $55,000. If, God forbid, you have a spouse who works and would like to add them to your plan, it adds up to an astounding $8139 premium, or a 34% contribution resulting in a nearly 15% pay cut.

So what about those teachers in other schools that already pay towards their health care? How do Philadelphia teachers compare? Are Philadelphia teachers, as SRC Chair Bill Green stated, on par with them?

I decided to research what teachers who earn $55,000 in other districts pay towards their health care for a $0 deductible family plan (including spouse), and here are my findings:

                  

DISTRICT	CONTRIBUTION	ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION	AVERAGE SALARY	MAXIMUM SALARY	SOURCES
Centennial	$61 a month	$732	$87,237	$111,867	CBA
Lower Merion	2.2% of salary	$1,210	$92,161	$120,393	CBA
Wissahickon	14% of premium	$3,393	$81,412	$112,376	CBA
Council Rock	16% of premium	$3,878	$91,138	$107,469	CBA
Neshaminy	16% of premium	$3,878	$79,563	$107,469	CBA
Central Bucks	16% of premium	$3,878	$75,141	$109,596	CBA
Lower Moreland	6% of premium	$1,454	$82,415	$105,612	expired CBA New CBA Updates
Tredyffrin/Easttown	11% of premium	$2,666	$81,394	$111,900	CBA
PHILADELPHIA	26% of premium 34% of premium	$6,319 or $8,139 (spouse)	$70,307	$90,051	CBA Salary Schedule Proposed Contributions

*(Note: I researched over 20 districts, and while all the numbers are remarkably consistent with these findings, I only chose to include those districts that actually have their contracts posted online so that readers know the data is 100% accurate.)

Philadelphia's Most Prized Public Employees

The following piece, in edited form, was published in the April 16th, 2014 issue of the Philadelphia Daily News.
It was also published, in edited form, in the April 17th-23rd, 2014 issue of the Philadelphia CityPaper.

For those of us who choose to enter urban public education, we don’t expect to get rich. The fact that we serve our fellow citizens and, in some small way, contribute toward alleviating society’s ills is often reward in itself. In exchange, we also like to see every now and then that society appreciates our efforts and our sacrifices.

Unfortunately, the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the School Reform Commission continue to denigrate and degrade us every chance that they get. When we ask for librarians to nurture a childhood spark of inquisitiveness, we get layoff notices and shuttered doors. When we ask for counselors to help guide society’s most vulnerable members through the treacherous waters of American inequity, we are given platitudes about how the money was given away in tax-breaks in order to spur economic growth. When we dare point our finger at a government that refuses to invest in our children, they shrug their shoulders and tell us it’s our fault for seeking a decent living wage.

And what of our “ludicrous” wages? Wages so high, they claim, that the SRC is seeking to forego any cost-of-living adjustments and, in fact, demanding that we give back 13% of it?

If salary is a measure of one’s worth, then society must despise the educators of our city’s youth. Earlier this month, TWU Local 234, the union that represents the city’s bus drivers, was offered an agreement by SEPTA that would give them a 5% cost-of-living wage increase over the next two years. If approved, this means that the average bus driver in the City of Philadelphia would now earn over $68,000. Meanwhile, the average city school teacher currently earns $70,790. If the SRC has its way, that figure would drop to $61,587.

SEPTA, like the School District of Philadelphia, gets a large proportion of its funding from Harrisburg. SEPTA also continuously runs deficits, like the School District, because the job of transporting commuters in one of America’s largest metropolitan areas is a Herculean task - as is the job of educating its children. 

What, therefore, are we Philadelphia educators left to believe? What should we think when one predominantly state-supported entity gets so much funding that it can afford to offer its public employees a 5% pay-raise over the next two years, but the other expects its public employees to take a 13% pay-cut?

Clearly there are priorities and these priorities do not rest with our children. 

Perhaps it’s time the teachers of this city abandon their sense of civic duty and their desire to inspire the next generation. Perhaps it’s time for them to exchange their numerous academic degrees for a driver’s license and a place behind the steering wheel.

Maybe then, we’ll finally get some appreciation.