September 23, 2019

Sign the Fund Our Facilities Coalition petition calling for an IMMEDIATE investment of $100 million for asbestos and lead abatement in Philly’s schools

The Fund Our Facilities Coalition, in partnership with the undersigned concerned individuals and partners is calling for $100 million of that funding to be invested immediately, so the District can begin the process of remediating damaged asbestos and lead in every school. That students and educators have their health and safety at stake when they go to school should move all of us to immediate action.​

September 18, 2019

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, through the PFT Health & Welfare Fund, today released an action plan for identifying and managing the abatement of asbestos-containing building materials (ACBMs) in high-risk areas in Philly’s public schools. “Healthy Schools Action Plan: Asbestos Crisis in Philly Schools” defines the danger and makes pointed recommendations for mitigating the health hazards caused by asbestos.

PFT’s Healthy Schools Action Plan lays out a series of “action items” for five key areas.

September 11, 2019

In response to news that a longtime Philadelphia school teacher has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, members of the Fund Our Facilities Coalition held a press conference at the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers offices to call for an immediate $100 million investment to perform lead and damaged asbestos abatement in Philadelphia’s public schools. The figure makes up the bulk of the $170 million the Coalition has been calling for since May.

August 15, 2019

All summer long, many members have reported receiving letters and postcards from an organization called, “Free to Teach.”

Let’s be clear–Free to Teach is a project of the Commonwealth Foundation, an anti-worker, anti-public education, Koch Brothers- and DeVos family-backed  “think tank” whose mission is to bust unions and feather the beds of corporate CEOs.

Attacks on public education in America by extremists and culture-war peddling politicians have reached new heights (“lows” may be more apt), but they are not new. The difference today is that the attacks are intended not just to undermine public education but to destroy it.