PHILADELPHIA — The troubled Philadelphia school district abruptly canceled its teachers' contract Monday, a surprise move designed to force them to make health care contributions after two years of stalled labor talks.
The announcement came at a hastily called meeting of the state-run School Reform Commission.
District officials said they have no plans to cut wages of the 15,000 teachers, nurses, and other members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Its members would pay $55 to $140 per month for health care premiums, and face other benefit cuts, starting in December, unless the move is challenged in court.
The American Federation of Teachers called the vote Monday ''a well-planned Hail Mary ambush'' by Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican, who faces a tough reelection fight. ''Corbett's School Reform Commission has amped up a war on teachers and support staff,'' federation president Randi Weingarten said in a statement.
The district, one of the nation's largest, has 135,000 students. Officials have eliminated 5,000 jobs and closed more than 30 schools as they cut nearly $1 billion in expenses in the past few years. The district perennially struggles with a deficit caused by rising pension and health care costs and payments to charter schools.
Officials said the benefit concessions were on a par with those made by administrators and other workers. ''Requiring teachers and other employees to contribute to their health care costs is a change and a sacrifice, but contributing to health care benefits is the reality of today's workplace,'' Superintendent William Hite said in a letter to parents. ''Limited resources require difficult decisions.''
City schools have been under state control since 2001. Under the takeover law, teachers do not have the right to strike.