Philadelphia teachers' union calls for district to reverse cuts after receiving $48 million in city budget

The union representing Philadelphia's teachers called on the School District of Philadelphia to reverse planned cuts after receiving $48 million in the preliminary budget.

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday approved Mayor Cherelle Parker's $7.1 billion budget without proposed new taxes on ride-hailing services and increases to taxes on hotels and short-term rentals.

While council plans to provide $48 million to the school district in Fiscal Year 2027, district officials said they still plan to move forward with cuts that could impact more than 300 jobs.

Word that the school district would move forward with this plan shocked some city lawmakers. Teachers and union officials say it gave them a sense of whiplash.

Superintendent Tony Watlington said Wednesday that the district was expecting to have a recurring funding source, such as the ride-hailing tax revenue.

A union official called the plan to still move forward with the cuts "deplorable."

"Their behavior once they now have the money, to not restore those positions to the schools, flies in the face of everything they say," Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Arthur Steinberg said. "Their main concern is kids and the communities they serve? When you combine this with the way they handled the school closures, they're telling the public the opposite."

The budget package is now on schedule for final approval at council's June 11 meeting, the final session before lawmakers go on their summer break.

Teachers at Olney High School say losing people in their schools will lead to larger class sizes, fewer options for students and the loss of dedicated teachers. Claire Waugh a teacher at Olney said

"The purpose of a band-aid is to stop the bleeding. And with all these cuts. We're bleeding," Claire Waugh, a teacher at Olney, said. "I can't think of a single thing that this $50 million could be spent on that would help our schools more than keeping dedicated staff who are already there in their positions."

Steinberg says they plan to talk with the mayor about pushing the school district to reverse course. 

The school district released a statement on Friday that read, in part, "Unless additional, recurring revenue is received by the District, we will not be in a position to restore the 340 school-based positions. The potential funding will be used to continue the District's focus on accelerating academic achievement."

"Morale is lower than it's ever been. We have more people than ever in the past applying to jobs outside the district," Steinberg said.

School district officials on Thursday defended their decision, saying they can't keep people in those positions without knowing the money is coming every year.

"The board has already spoken. Without recurring revenue, the pathway forward is, those positions are going to be at risk," the city's Board of Education President Reginald Streater said.

District leaders did not give a timeline of when they would move teachers and staff to new schools nor did they say what they plan to do with the extra funds. But teachers we spoke with say they'll continue to fight.