Corbett's rescue plan sets the stage for attack on teachers' union
by Ron Whitehorne on Jul 03 2013 Posted in Commentary
The Corbett rescue plan for Philadelphia's schools, forged by the likes of Comcast vice president David Cohen, Philadelphia School Partnership's Mark Gleason, and the Chamber of Commerce, sets the stage for a full-court press to wring concessions from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The corporate education reformers will press their case for concessions and for implementing a business model of school management without the impediments of a union contract. The mantra will be: City Hall and Harrisburg stepped up; now it's time for the teachers' union to do its part.The current crisis, in the minds of the corporate reformers, is an opportunity to advance their austerity and privatization agenda. Repeatedly, we are told that everybody must pitch in to make ends meet in these difficult times. The austerity argument begins with the plea for shared sacrifice.
Who created the crisis?
Let’s start with the premise. This crisis is not an act of God but a man-made disaster fashioned by the governor and his allies, who are deeply hostile to public education. They very deliberately slashed the education budget and abandoned the "costing-out" formula that led to some equity in distributing state funding to local Districts. Politically, and morally, they bear the responsibility for the dilemma we face.
Secondly, calls for sacrifice have been highly selective. Corporations, banks, and mega-nonprofits have not been asked by the mayor or the governor to step up to
