Chester+Upland+teachers,+support+staff+pledge+to+work+for+delayed+pay+during+school+district’s+financial+crisis

= Pennsylvania State Education Association: Chester Upland teachers, support staff pledge to work for delayed pay during school district’s financial crisis. = = Published by Capitolwire.com = =1/4/12= = = = = = = =CHESTER, Pa. – After a meeting yesterday to discuss the Chester Upland School District’s looming financial crisis, leaders of the school district’s employee associations said that they plan to continue working as long as they are able, even if the school district fails to meet payroll later this month.= = = =The members of the Chester Upland Education Association, representing 204 teachers in the district, and the Chester Upland Educational Support Personnel Association, representing 65 school support staff workers, adopted two resolutions during their meeting at Chester High School.= = = =According to Gloria Zoranski, president of the Chester Upland Education Association, and Jacqueline Browne, president of the Chester Upland Educational Support Personnel Association, the resolutions call on the state Department of Education to provide immediate financial assistance to the district, which educates 3,600 students. The resolutions also state that the employees will work as long as they are able for delayed compensation, if the school district fails to make payroll.= = = =“This is a sad and shocking time for our students,” said Zoranski. “Once again, the kids who learn in the Chester Upland School District are victims of callous indifference from the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett. Our students need help. We need the state to help them.= = = =“We also have a message for the students of the district – we will be at work tomorrow, so come to school prepared to learn,” Zoranski said.= = = = The FY 2011-2012 state budget, which was approved by Gov. Tom Corbett on June 30, cut $8,445,302 from the school district, an unprecedented 14.4 percent reduction in state support. On Dec. 23, Gov. Corbett’s secretary of education Ron Tomalis rejected the Chester Upland School Board’s request for immediate financial assistance. = = = =According to Zoranski and Browne, the school district’s employees plan to continue working for as long as they are able, even if the school district fails to pay them in the near future.= = = =“With the announcement by Secretary Tomalis that the Commonwealth will not advance subsidy payments to the school district, Chester Upland will soon be unable to pay its bills,” Browne said.= = = =“We are committed to the students in our schools,” Zoranski said. “We’re willing to delay our own compensation so that the students can keep coming to school. We plan to keep showing up and doing our jobs. Our students need us now more than ever.”= = = = Zoranski and Browne noted that Chester Upland has one of the highest student poverty rates in Pennsylvania and is dependent on state and federal sources for most of its funding ($89 million of its current $110 million budget). The district has already made drastic cuts to its educational program in response to the recent state funding reductions signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett. = = = = “Bad decisions in Harrisburg caused these problems,” Browne said. “Now, Chester Upland’s children are looking to Harrisburg for solutions. If our leaders can’t find them, our students’ future is at risk.” = = = =Zoranski and Browne appealed to the community of Chester Upland, and particularly to the creditors of the district employees, to be patient while efforts to resolve the financial crisis continue.= = = = The resolutions adopted by the local unions call on Gov. Corbett and Secretary Tomalis “to reconsider their decision to reject the board of school directors’ call for immediate financial assistance; to put the needs of the 3,600 students who learn in the Chester Upland School District before any other considerations; and to render an immediate decision on this request so that the education of the 3,600 students who learn in the Chester Upland School District is not interrupted or curtailed.” = = = =The resolutions also state the employees “will work as long as we are individually able, even with delayed compensation, if the current financial crisis causes the Chester Upland School District to fail to meet its payroll on time.”= = = =Zoranski is a high school business teacher in the Chester Upland School District. Browne is a secretary for the district. Both local unions are affiliates of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.= = = = = = = = = =News= =home=