Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
@pft.org
The PFT represents 14,000 educators working in the School District of Philadelphia. We're fighting for more public education funding & a better world for workers. Nothing about us, without us ✊🏽
PFT.org #PHLed
PFT.org #PHLed
Pinned
Meet us on the 4th floor of City Hall next Tuesday to let City Council know that the School District needs to show us their work before closing, co-locating, or moving schools and programs.
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
No one knows the conditions of our schools better than @pft.org members. We reviewed the District's plan & found substantial problems with data, inconsistencies, and gaps.
Council must use its leverage to force the District to share all underlying data and show their work. #PhlEd
Council must use its leverage to force the District to share all underlying data and show their work. #PhlEd
Ahead of today's #PHLed City Council hearing on the facilities plan, @pft.org has sounded an alarm, saying the district hasn't released enough data to justify closures and other changes. Story: www.inquirer.com/education/ph...
Philly’s teachers union has raised an alarm with City Council about school closing plan
"You hold powerful levers that may be used to encourage the district to craft a more equitable [plan]", PFT president Arthur Steinberg wrote to Council's education committee.
www.inquirer.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:07 PM
✅️ FIX our schools
✅️ FUND our schools
🚫 Do NOT close our schools!!!
✅️ FUND our schools
🚫 Do NOT close our schools!!!
Ahead of today's #PHLed City Council hearing on the facilities plan, @pft.org has sounded an alarm, saying the district hasn't released enough data to justify closures and other changes. Story: www.inquirer.com/education/ph...
Philly’s teachers union has raised an alarm with City Council about school closing plan
"You hold powerful levers that may be used to encourage the district to craft a more equitable [plan]", PFT president Arthur Steinberg wrote to Council's education committee.
www.inquirer.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:01 PM
✅️ FIX our schools
✅️ FUND our schools
🚫 Do NOT close our schools!!!
✅️ FUND our schools
🚫 Do NOT close our schools!!!
The Year of the Fire Horse is said to be marked by dynamism and rapid change. This is a moment to balance recovery with action, and self care with reaction. A happy, healthy, and lucky Lunar New Year to all! #LunarNewYear
February 17, 2026 at 4:10 PM
The Year of the Fire Horse is said to be marked by dynamism and rapid change. This is a moment to balance recovery with action, and self care with reaction. A happy, healthy, and lucky Lunar New Year to all! #LunarNewYear
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
Jesse Jackson-One of the greatest civil rights figures of our time… His memory is a blessing to all of us
Jesse Jackson, whose impassioned oratory and vision of a “rainbow coalition” of the poor and forgotten made him the nation's most influential Black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades of Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama, died on Tuesday at 84. Follow live.
Updates: Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 84
www.nytimes.com
February 17, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Jesse Jackson-One of the greatest civil rights figures of our time… His memory is a blessing to all of us
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
thinking about the conversation I had with Jesse Jackson in 2019:
"The truth of slavery—that Africans subsidized America’s wealth—that truth will not go away. It’s buried right now, but as each generation becomes much more serious, it will be grappled with." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
"The truth of slavery—that Africans subsidized America’s wealth—that truth will not go away. It’s buried right now, but as each generation becomes much more serious, it will be grappled with." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
![Jesse Jackson: Well, first of all, we had been freed without being made equal. There’s historical continuity between blacks being amassed in prison after 246 years of legal slavery. When there was a contest about it [in Dred Scott v. Sandford], the Supreme Court ruled that blacks had no rights. [After emancipation and the Civil War] those who had been slave masters became segregation masters. They took our freedom away from us; they began to lock up blacks by the thousands to do prison labor, farm labor—the whole range. They just put us back in slavery.
We finally, in 1954, broke the backbone—legally—of that system [with the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision], but we were never—there was never repair for damage done. Two hundred and forty-six years of slavery, then legal Jim Crow and [nearly] 5,000 lynchings without a conviction. And even today, discrimination by extension of that system has not completely ended.
So we had been fighting for repair. We fought against the barbarism for our freedom; now we’re fighting for our equality. We are the foundation of American society—not the bottom, the foundation. When the Declaration of Independence came, we had been enslaved for 157 years. We made cotton king. We are due a different kind of recognition.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4vkwol5raj4hnslvsqvmpiqw/bafkreic4dao7rhh7274jfmz3jjnb6s3ak5c2ag75h4jha7mgli3r3fqbey@jpeg)
February 17, 2026 at 12:54 PM
thinking about the conversation I had with Jesse Jackson in 2019:
"The truth of slavery—that Africans subsidized America’s wealth—that truth will not go away. It’s buried right now, but as each generation becomes much more serious, it will be grappled with." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
"The truth of slavery—that Africans subsidized America’s wealth—that truth will not go away. It’s buried right now, but as each generation becomes much more serious, it will be grappled with." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Black history IS American history ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/j... #BHM
Judge orders slavery exhibit to be restored at the Presidents House
After being removed by the National Parks Service last month, a judge has ruled a slavery exhibit to be restored to the Presidents House in Old City.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
February 17, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Black history IS American history ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾 www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/j... #BHM
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
This is just open, unabashed white nationalist rhetoric at this point.
February 16, 2026 at 6:57 PM
This is just open, unabashed white nationalist rhetoric at this point.
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
My statement on the preliminary injunction to restore an exhibit about enslavement at the President's House Site in Philadelphia:
February 16, 2026 at 7:54 PM
My statement on the preliminary injunction to restore an exhibit about enslavement at the President's House Site in Philadelphia:
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
"In Pennsylvania, the Shapiro administration is warning federal officials that it will not issue required state permits for two planned immigration detention centers..."
www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...
www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...
Shapiro admin tells ICE to drop plans for PA detention centers
ICE detention centers planned for Berks and Schuylkill Counties would burden residents and possibly violate state legal requirements, officials say.
www.spotlightpa.org
February 16, 2026 at 6:52 PM
"In Pennsylvania, the Shapiro administration is warning federal officials that it will not issue required state permits for two planned immigration detention centers..."
www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...
www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
The study found that children enrolled in Parton’s Imagination Library “were 5 times more likely to be interested in reading, 11 times more likely to be interested in books, and 15 times more likely to join in during shared reading, compared to children who aren't enrolled.”
February 16, 2026 at 4:50 PM
The study found that children enrolled in Parton’s Imagination Library “were 5 times more likely to be interested in reading, 11 times more likely to be interested in books, and 15 times more likely to join in during shared reading, compared to children who aren't enrolled.”
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
Sesame Street educates its followers on iconic Black hairstyles in honor of Black History Month.
February 12, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Sesame Street educates its followers on iconic Black hairstyles in honor of Black History Month.
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
Right-wing Heritage Foundation’s own data shows fewer than 100 noncitizens voted since 1982 (!!!)
This is not a real problem. “The SAVE ACT is a Trojan horse to nationalize elections”: open.substack.com/pub/thiswill...
This is not a real problem. “The SAVE ACT is a Trojan horse to nationalize elections”: open.substack.com/pub/thiswill...
February 16, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Right-wing Heritage Foundation’s own data shows fewer than 100 noncitizens voted since 1982 (!!!)
This is not a real problem. “The SAVE ACT is a Trojan horse to nationalize elections”: open.substack.com/pub/thiswill...
This is not a real problem. “The SAVE ACT is a Trojan horse to nationalize elections”: open.substack.com/pub/thiswill...
Who else is having a good day off from work educating our littles about the difference a pro-public education president can make? 👩🏾🎓🏫🍎 #PresidentsDay #PhlEd
February 16, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Who else is having a good day off from work educating our littles about the difference a pro-public education president can make? 👩🏾🎓🏫🍎 #PresidentsDay #PhlEd
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
In my new column, I write about how America's public schools help young people value diversity and bridge differences. When the administration tried to take a hatchet to 60 years of civil rights laws that helped create educational opportunity for all, AFT sued—and won.
www.aft.org/column/toget...
www.aft.org/column/toget...
Together, we are America
Americans want us to treat each other with dignity, not inhumanity.
www.aft.org
February 15, 2026 at 8:05 PM
In my new column, I write about how America's public schools help young people value diversity and bridge differences. When the administration tried to take a hatchet to 60 years of civil rights laws that helped create educational opportunity for all, AFT sued—and won.
www.aft.org/column/toget...
www.aft.org/column/toget...
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
Not mentioned in this story about a populist challenger vs the conservative establishment in North Carolina: the role that school vouchers are playing in fueling grassroots anger on the right. The *horse-riding sheriff* says vouchers are a give-a-way to the rich www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
In North Carolina, a Tight Primary Could Upend the Balance of Conservative Power
www.nytimes.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Not mentioned in this story about a populist challenger vs the conservative establishment in North Carolina: the role that school vouchers are playing in fueling grassroots anger on the right. The *horse-riding sheriff* says vouchers are a give-a-way to the rich www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
School vouchers are pulling resources from the public schools that serve nearly every child. Research shows they raise costs, enable discrimination, and leave students behind. Learn what voucher expansion really means for public school students.
A Subsidy For the Few: Vouchers Leaving Public Schools, Students Behind | NEA
Sold as a way to help students in underresourced schools, voucher programs disproportionately benefit affluent families with children already enrolled in private schools.
www.nea.org
February 15, 2026 at 3:12 PM
School vouchers are pulling resources from the public schools that serve nearly every child. Research shows they raise costs, enable discrimination, and leave students behind. Learn what voucher expansion really means for public school students.
"A growing body of evidence shows that vouchers... more often lead to no improvement or even significant losses in achievement, while draining funding from public schools and worsening segregation for many students."
keystonenewsroom.com/2026/02/13/s... #PABudget #PhlEd #NoVouchers
keystonenewsroom.com/2026/02/13/s... #PABudget #PhlEd #NoVouchers
School vouchers 101: Does Pennsylvania have them? How do they work?
Education funding is a regular topic of debate in Pennsylvania, both among lawmakers and residents—especially when you add school vouchers to the discussion. Here’s a breakdown of what school vouchers...
keystonenewsroom.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:29 PM
"A growing body of evidence shows that vouchers... more often lead to no improvement or even significant losses in achievement, while draining funding from public schools and worsening segregation for many students."
keystonenewsroom.com/2026/02/13/s... #PABudget #PhlEd #NoVouchers
keystonenewsroom.com/2026/02/13/s... #PABudget #PhlEd #NoVouchers
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally. They get sent to a place called the “baby jail” in Texas. Very little of it ends up on video like this. But it’s routine. And disgusting.
February 15, 2026 at 3:25 PM
This is what ICE does every day. Hunt little kids who are here legally. They get sent to a place called the “baby jail” in Texas. Very little of it ends up on video like this. But it’s routine. And disgusting.
Happy Valentine's Day to our members who lovingly educate, mentor, and lift up their students. Philly students deserve the whole dang world! #PhlEd #ValentinesDay
February 14, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Happy Valentine's Day to our members who lovingly educate, mentor, and lift up their students. Philly students deserve the whole dang world! #PhlEd #ValentinesDay
🔥🔥🔥 #UnionStrong
Congrats to the United Educators of San Francisco on this incredible win. Our members, their families, and the community will all benefit from this agreement!
uesf.org/news/bargain...
uesf.org/news/bargain...
February 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM
🔥🔥🔥 #UnionStrong
Happy #RedFriday from our members at Ellwood School!
As we fight against parts of the SDP's 10-year facilities plan that are likely to worsen learning conditions, the PFT is fighting for the climates students need to feel safe, welcome, inspired 💡⚡#PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
As we fight against parts of the SDP's 10-year facilities plan that are likely to worsen learning conditions, the PFT is fighting for the climates students need to feel safe, welcome, inspired 💡⚡#PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
February 13, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Happy #RedFriday from our members at Ellwood School!
As we fight against parts of the SDP's 10-year facilities plan that are likely to worsen learning conditions, the PFT is fighting for the climates students need to feel safe, welcome, inspired 💡⚡#PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
As we fight against parts of the SDP's 10-year facilities plan that are likely to worsen learning conditions, the PFT is fighting for the climates students need to feel safe, welcome, inspired 💡⚡#PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
San Francisco can’t wait any longer for the schools their students deserve.
Solidarity with United Educators of San Francisco who are on strike fighting to fix the staffing crisis, improve special education, and better wages and health benefits. One day longer, one day stronger!
Solidarity with United Educators of San Francisco who are on strike fighting to fix the staffing crisis, improve special education, and better wages and health benefits. One day longer, one day stronger!
February 12, 2026 at 11:07 PM
✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
Meet us on the 4th floor of City Hall next Tuesday to let City Council know that the School District needs to show us their work before closing, co-locating, or moving schools and programs.
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
February 12, 2026 at 10:15 PM
Meet us on the 4th floor of City Hall next Tuesday to let City Council know that the School District needs to show us their work before closing, co-locating, or moving schools and programs.
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Sign up to testify: phlcouncil.com/offering-pub... #PhlEd #FixDontClose #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs
Contact your senators! actionnetwork.org/letters/save...
February 12, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Contact your senators! actionnetwork.org/letters/save...
Reposted by Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT Local 3)
“While we are thrilled that this wave of attacks is seemingly being significantly scaled back, we must acknowledge the deep harm and trauma these last few months have brought to our state." Full statement at aflcio.mn/466iRkZ #iceoutmn
RE: ICE Drawdown — ICE OUT OF MN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
aflcio.mn
February 12, 2026 at 4:16 PM
“While we are thrilled that this wave of attacks is seemingly being significantly scaled back, we must acknowledge the deep harm and trauma these last few months have brought to our state." Full statement at aflcio.mn/466iRkZ #iceoutmn