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PFT PRESIDENT JERRY JORDAN ON ONGOING FACILITIES CRISIS

April 14, 2023 In response to the ongoing school facilities crisis and recent asbestos-related closures, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement: PHILADELPHIA--"The seriousness of the ongoing facilities crisis and its impact on our students and staff cannot be overstated. This year, in the span of just a few weeks, three schools have been shuttered due to damaged asbestos. These discoveries are particularly glaring because they come in the wake of incorrect assessments from over two decades ago. "Immediately before the pandemic, more than ten schools were closed in a single school year due to damaged asbestos. In fact, during that time, the District's previous leadership was so recalcitrant that it was only due to our collective advocacy that we were even able to ensure that students and staff were relocated in the events of these emergent situations. MORE

PFT PRESIDENT JERRY JORDAN ON ON SHOOTING NEAR ROWEN ELEMENTARY; MASS SHOOTING IN KY

April 10, 2023

PHILADELPHIA--"The unrelenting devastation wrought by gun violence should be unthinkable--but it's horrifyingly far too common. We learned earlier today of a mass shooting in Kentucky that left at least four people dead and a community shattered.

"This afternoon, students and staff at Rowen Elementary were traumatized as a by a shooting nearby the school while children played in the yard. To think that children cannot feel safe in their school yard is a disgrace. The impact of this shooting is incalculable. 

"My thoughts and my condolences are sincere, but they are wholly

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PFT PRESIDENT JERRY JORDAN ON MAYORAL CANDIDATE HELEN GYM'S EDUCATION PLAN

April 6, 2023 "The education plan put forth by Helen Gym, PFT's endorsed candidate for Mayor, is incredibly comprehensive and thorough. The plan incorporates commonsense and visionary solutions to issues; it is rooted in the priorities that we have collectively organized around for years; and it is what is needed to meet this moment. MORE

PFT PRESIDENT JERRY JORDAN ON FATAL SHOOTING OF 15-YEAR-OLD CHILD ON HIS WAY TO SCHOOL

March 28, 2023

In response to the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old child on his way to school in Nicetown, PFT President Jerry Jordan shared the following:

"A devastating loss. I am so sorry for the child whose life was stolen from him, for his family, and for everyone who knew and loved him. The unrelenting scourge of gun violence must end." #phled #EndGunViolenceNow [Twitter link.]

PFT's social media shared the following: 

A 15-year-old child's life was stolen as he walked to school this morning. Our hearts are heavy for him, his loved ones, and all impacted by this loss. We can, and must, do

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PFT PRESIDENT JERRY JORDAN ON DEADLY SCHOOL SHOOTING IN NASHVILLE

March 27, 2023

In response to the deadly school shooting in Nashville, PFT President Jerry Jordan shared the following:

"Devastating. Lives shattered, again and again and again. My deepest and wholly insufficient sympathies are with the loved ones of the children whose lives were so cruelly stolen today, and with every person impacted by this horror." [Twitter link.]

PFT's social media shared the following:

Absolutely heartbreaking. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of the six people whose lives were so cruelly stolen from them, and to all whose lives are forever changed by this devastation. We

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What unions do

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In AFT President Randi Weingarten’s latest New York Times  column, she describes what it is exactly that unions do. Though unions are the most popular they have been in decades, anti-union sentiment still thrives in red states and across the nation. “Several years ago, The Atlantic ran a story whose headline made even me, a labor leader, scratch my head: ‘Union Membership: Very Sexy,’” Weingarten writes in the column. “The gist was that higher wages, health benefits and job security—all associated with union membership—boost one’s chances of getting married. Belonging to a union doesn’t actually guarantee happily ever after, but it does help working people have a better life in the here and now.” Click through to read the full column.