By Martha Woodall, Susan Snyder and Tricia L. Nadolny

– Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. pledged Thursday to have a full-time nurse and counselor in every Philadelphia district school next fall.

But the plan, presented at a principals’ meeting at Martin Luther King High School, is contingent on approval of Gov. Wolf’s proposed 2016-17 budget.

Wolf’s $33.3 billion spending plan calls for a substantial increase in funding for schools, said Fernando Gallard, district spokesman. Republican leaders have said the budget has “no chance” of passing.

Although Hite has often said he wanted to restore counselors and nurses at the 218 district schools, he acted to include those posts in individual school budgets for 2016-17. The budgets were released Thursday.

The surprise announcement heartened principals, many of whom have been trying to run schools with nurses and counselors present only a few days a week because of the district’s finances.
“Wonderful news! @SDPHite just announced that every school will have a full-time counselor and a full-time nurse budgeted next year!” tweeted Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said 49 schools lack a full-time counselor, and 123 have no full-time nurse. He said 17 schools have a nurse one day a week or less.

Hite said the plan would cost $13 million and require hiring about 61 nurses and 42 counselors. In a few cases where two schools share a building, there would be one nurse.

“We’ve always been trying to get to this point,” he said. “We wanted to be in a place where if we felt like the potential revenue was robust enough, we could do these things.”

But he said it all hinges on more state money.

The district, he added, which has received a partial state payment of $770 million, is still waiting for the rest of this year’s money. Without it, schools cannot make it through June.

Many welcomed the news.

“I think it’s very encouraging,” Mayor Kenney said. “Obviously, I think Dr. Hite clearly knows that nurses and counselors are a requirement for a productive school environment.”

Jordan said the union had been fighting to get full-time nurses and counselors into schools for years.

“We have some of the neediest children,” he said. “The school nurse becomes the main medical provider for many of our kids.”

Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who chairs Council’s education committee, called it a tragedy that students had died after suffering medical emergencies while nurses weren’t present.

Melissa Wilde has two children at Jackson School in South Philadelphia, which has a part-time nurse. She called the news “fantastic.”

“We are really glad that Superintendent Hite is prioritizing these crucial personnel,” she said. “He knows that at a school like Jackson, nurses and counselors are not optional, they are essential for all kids to learn.”

But Council President Darrell L. Clarke took a more cautious view.

Though Council members have long pressed the district to restore nurses and counselors, Clarke said it was difficult to get excited about the move, considering long-standing frustrations with the district’s finances.

Clarke said he was concerned that if the money from Harrisburg does not materialize, the district will turn to Council for it.

“It’s hard to be excited about anything that comes out of that building, because more often than not it’s just not real,” he said.

Citing financial woes, the district laid off all 283 counselors in June 2013. It brought back 126 that fall without regard to seniority, and required many of them to serve students at more than one school.

Principals chose the counselors who were recalled, and the PFT filed a grievance about the disregarding of seniority. The union also argued its contract required every school to have a counselor.

An arbitrator sided with the PFT. Common Pleas Court upheld the decision. The district has appealed.

Also on Thursday, Hite unveiled the district’s latest strategy for overhauling its lowest performing schools. He said academic turnarounds would begin at four more elementary schools in the fall.

The $23.7 million plan would enable the schools to reduce class size from 30 to 20 students in kindergarten through second grade; ensure each school has an assistant principal to help with school climate; and provide each school with math and learning coaches to work with teachers to improve instruction.

The project will encompass the four new schools, as well as King and 10 others already in the district’s turnaround network.

Hite said the project would be funded by $16.5 million in current and redirected spending and $7.2 million in new money for turnarounds included in the district’s five-year spending plan.

The new schools targeted for district-run makeovers are Roosevelt Elementary, East Germantown; Munoz-Marin, North Philadelphia; Rhodes, North Philadelphia; and Mitchell, Kingsessing.

Hite said the new strategy was aimed at boosting academic performance at schools that have been among the lowest performers for years. The goal, he said, was helping schools improve so they would no longer need intervention.

He said Cayuga Elementary in Feltonville had done so well for the last two years that it would leave the turnaround network at the end of June.
Turnarounds will focus on supporting effective leaders, improving teaching, using data to spot students who need help, engaging with the community, and creating a safe learning environment.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160311_Hite_pledges_a_nurse__counselor_for_everyschool.html

By The PA. AFL-CIO

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO 42^nd Constitutional Convention will be held in Philadelphia beginning Tuesday, April 5th through Thursday, April 7th,  2016 at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel at 17th  and Race Streets.

National, state, and local union officials, elected officials, and political candidates will be speaking during the Convention General Sessions which will be held in the Liberty Ballrooms of the Hotel. The list of speakers will be forwarded as they become finalized.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Richard Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder will lead the proceedings and activities. The theme of the Convention is: “Solidarity Is Power” underscoring the importance of unity among all unions and all workers in protecting the progress already achieved and in expanding the middle class for today and tomorrow’s working families.

Delegates representing local unions and other labor organizations affiliated with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO will be attending this Convention which represents over 800,000 union workers and families in Pennsylvania, making it the largest labor organization in the State. Delegates will set the plans for electing pro-worker candidates in the 2016 elections, as well as setting policies to protect and create good jobs, raise wages, decent pensions and health care, fair trade policies and expanding opportunities for all workers to form unions for a better life.

Convention General Session Schedule, (subject to change):

Tuesday, April 5, 2016 – (9:30 AM to 12:00 Noon)

Wednesday, April 6, 2016 – (9:00 AM to 1:30 PM)

Thursday, April 7, 2016 – (9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon)

 Other Pennsylvania AFL-CIO events to be held in conjunction with the Convention:

Wednesday evening, April 6, 2016 – Pennsylvania AFL-CIO/COPE Honorees Dinner.

Honorees:

Harry Lombardo, President, Transport Workers Union of America

Michael Barnes, President, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 8

Patrick Eiding, President, Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO

Ryan Boyer, Business Manager, Labors’ DC of the Metro Area of Philadelphia and

Vicinity

By Claudia Vargas

– City Controller Alan Butkovitz thinks he has a solution for Philadelphia’s staggeringly underfunded pension fund: buyouts.

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer up-front cash payments to retirees, who, if they took the option, would surrender their lifelong pensions.

The payments would represent only a portion – say, 50 percent – of what a retiree could expect to receive over a lifetime. Still, a fair number of retirees might be enticed by the prospect of a cash windfall they could invest on their own, Butkovitz said.

“This would give people the opportunity to start a business,” he said. “Or do something that could potentially change their life and provide financial security long-term. And, of course, they could convert it into an annuity.”

Such buyouts could benefit the city by dramatically reducing the pension fund’s overall liability. The fund is $5.7 billion short of its $11 billion obligation to city workers’ pensions.

“There’s a persistent concern in the city about getting control of pension costs and a lot of things have been tried that were nibbling around the edges,” Butkovitz said. “So, it seems like the environment is ripe for ideas that would actually result in significant savings.”

Finance director Rob Dubow is intrigued by the buyout concept.

“It’s an interesting idea that deserves further examination,” he said.

While not yet adopted anywhere, public-pension buyouts are gaining attention nationwide as cities and states grapple with growing pension deficits.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

City Council would need to approve any buyout.

At the moment, Butkovitz has no recommendation as to what the buyout percentage should be. “My hunch is that it would be worthwhile if even one person took it, but I need to see that statistically tested,” Butkovitz said.

A preliminary run of numbers presented during the Feb. 25 pension board meeting showed that if every past and present employee covered under Plan 67 took a 50 percent buyout, it could reduce the city’s liability by $3.7 billion.

There is still the question of how to pay for the buyouts.

Taking the cash from the city’s current pension assets would severely drain the fund, city actuary Ken Kent said at last month’s pension board meeting.

Butkovitz is suggesting that the city sell bonds to cover the buyouts. The debt service on those bonds would reduce the benefit of the program.

Butkovitz wants to target retirees covered by Plan 67 because it represents $5 billion of the fund’s $5.7 billion shortfall. Its terms are particularly generous.

The plan covers police and fire employees hired before 1988, union-represented municipal employees hired before 1992, and nonunionized employees hired before 1987.

Police officers and firefighters covered by the plan can retire at 45 with a full lifetime pension. Other municipal employees can retire at 55.

Police and fire employees can receive up to 100 percent of their final highest salary. Municipal employees can receive up to 80 percent of the average of their three highest salaries.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160307_A_plan_to_help_the_city_s_pension_woes__buyouts.html

Proposal: city workers surrender pensions, get cash buyout

– City Controller Alan Butkovitz thinks he has a solution for Philadelphia’s staggeringly underfunded pension fund: buyouts.

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer up-front cash payments to retirees, who, if they took the option, would surrender their lifelong pensions.

The payments would represent only a portion – say, 50 percent – of what a retiree could expect to receive over a lifetime. Still, a fair number of retirees might be enticed by the prospect of a cash windfall they could invest on their own, Butkovitz said.

“This would give people the opportunity to start a business,” he said. “Or do something that could potentially change their life and provide financial security long-term. And, of course, they could convert it into an annuity.”

Such buyouts could benefit the city by dramatically reducing the pension fund’s overall liability. The fund is $5.7 billion short of its $11 billion obligation to city workers’ pensions.

“There’s a persistent concern in the city about getting control of pension costs and a lot of things have been tried that were nibbling around the edges,” Butkovitz said. “So, it seems like the environment is ripe for ideas that would actually result in significant savings.”

Finance director Rob Dubow is intrigued by the buyout concept.

“It’s an interesting idea that deserves further examination,” he said.

While not yet adopted anywhere, public-pension buyouts are gaining attention nationwide as cities and states grapple with growing pension deficits.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

Illinois lawmakers, for instance, are considering lump-sum payouts to solve their state’s pension crisis. Nashville considered a buyout program last year, but ultimately decided against it.

“People are looking for different solutions,” said Greg Mennis, director of the public sector retirement systems project at Pew Charitable Trusts.

He acknowledged that government buyout programs face high hurdles.

“It’s complex,” he said, ” . . . striking a balance between boosting the city’s finances and maintaining workers’ security. The outcomes are so uncertain.”

Butkovitz is proposing that the city offer buyouts to 31,000 city retirees and 2,500 active employees who are covered by the city’s oldest and costliest pension plan, referred to as Plan 67. The city’s actuary is preparing an analysis to determine the savings and cost of a buyout.

City Council would need to approve any buyout.

At the moment, Butkovitz has no recommendation as to what the buyout percentage should be. “My hunch is that it would be worthwhile if even one person took it, but I need to see that statistically tested,” Butkovitz said.

A preliminary run of numbers presented during the Feb. 25 pension board meeting showed that if every past and present employee covered under Plan 67 took a 50 percent buyout, it could reduce the city’s liability by $3.7 billion.

There is still the question of how to pay for the buyouts.

Taking the cash from the city’s current pension assets would severely drain the fund, city actuary Ken Kent said at last month’s pension board meeting.

Butkovitz is suggesting that the city sell bonds to cover the buyouts. The debt service on those bonds would reduce the benefit of the program.

Butkovitz wants to target retirees covered by Plan 67 because it represents $5 billion of the fund’s $5.7 billion shortfall. Its terms are particularly generous.

The plan covers police and fire employees hired before 1988, union-represented municipal employees hired before 1992, and nonunionized employees hired before 1987.

Police officers and firefighters covered by the plan can retire at 45 with a full lifetime pension. Other municipal employees can retire at 55.

Police and fire employees can receive up to 100 percent of their final highest salary. Municipal employees can receive up to 80 percent of the average of their three highest salaries.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160307_A_plan_to_help_the_city_s_pension_woes__buyouts.html