PHILADELPHIA, PA  August 16 —Today,  the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) effectively destroyed its teacher union (the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers or PFT.) It declared that it is a “distressed school district” that “cannot efficiently educate its children” unless it is allowed to cancel its contractual obligations with its teachers and other employees.
In June, the SDP laid-off approximately 40% of its staff claiming that it was “financially broke.”  It is now seeking to re-hire some of them in the cheapest possible way by suspending seniority rules,  changing salary schedules,  and allowing principals to choose the “best” teachers for the students. The SDP will “re-hire” only those teachers whose salary is the lowest or those who are “willing” to accept an immense wage cut and not complain about it. None will get any of the “commonly accepted” benefits and protections. In other words: SMASH the union.
‘Changing Horses in Mid-Stream’
This is a perfect example of what PLP means when we describe capitalism as a dictatorship of the bosses (capitalists.) The rulers never tire of telling us that “we are a country of laws” and “the law must be obeyed.” But sometimes, the bosses don’t have laws to supposedly “justify” what they do, so they change them or create new ones to fit their needs. This is exactly what is happening here. It’s also exactly what happened when the government bailed out the banks and the auto industry using workers’ tax money. The bosses have declared war on the working class.
The Only Response: Fight Back!
The bosses are using both Philadelphia and Detroit as test cases to see how far they can push workers and see what kind of resistance the working class will organize. Teachers must join with other SDP employees, parents, and students, and not rely on politicians, union leaders, or “community organizers” to lead the struggle. Their main role is to pacify workers’ anger. A real fightback would include all Philadelphia workers. If the SEPTA (transit) workers, the sanitation workers, and the municipal clerical workers went on strike in support of the teachers, the rulers would be sure to get the message.
What Does ‘Winning’ Mean
Winning in this situation does not necessarily mean that the SDP backs down, partially or completely.  Even if the SDP reverses itself, education under capitalism will always be racist, anti-working class, competitive, and mind-numbing. Winning means PLP fighting for a class-conscious working class. That would mean that workers would understand that the only way to solve their problems is by overthrowing capitalism and establishing a communist society without social classes, racism, bosses, the wage system, endless wars, and all of the other horrors that capitalism creates. Winning this battle means convincing large numbers of people that capitalism cannot be reformed; it must be smashed.