Monday, January 09, 2012
Teachers in Pennsylvania’s Chester Upland School District in Delaware County, west of Philadelphia, intend to keep working indefinitely even though they won’t be paid after Wednesday by the broke district.
Unions representing more than 260 instructors and support staff agreed to stay on the job and keep schools open, while asking the state Department of Education to help Chester Upland.
The district was hit hard by the state’s budget cuts last year, losing $18 million in funding. It was forced to furlough more than 100 teachers and merged two high schools, among other cost-cutting measures.
So far the administration of Republican Governor Tom Corbett has been unwilling to help the district of 3,600 students by advancing it money.
As if parents and students in Delaware County didn’t have enough educational problems, on Friday the Philadelphia Archdiocese recommended the closing of two Roman Catholic high schools and seven grade schools in the county.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Chester Upland Employees to Stay on Job Even If District Can't Pay (by John Kopp, Delco Times)
Chester Upland Teachers Say They Will Keep Working After District Funds Run Out Jan. 11 (by Dan Hardy, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Senator Asks State to Declare Chester Upland a Distressed School District (by John Kopp, Delco Times)
Declining Enrollments, Debt Leading to Proposed Catholic School Closures in Delaware County (by Patti Mengers, Delco Times)
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