Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Teachers File U.S. Complaint Against Philadelphia Day School Over Union Ouster

The American Federation of Teachers has filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the board of suburban Philadelphia’s Perelman Jewish Day School.

The complaint, issued Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, came in response to the school’s unilateral decision last month to no longer recognize its teachers union, the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent reported.

A private school that is affiliated with the Conservative movement’s Schechter Day School Network, Perelman serves more than 300 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

The school leadership has defended its decision by arguing that, as a religious institution, it is exempt from the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. The school has also said that eliminating the union, which is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, will improve communication between teachers and administration and will give the administration needed flexibility in hiring decisions.

The recent surprise decision by the board to stop recognizing its teachers union of 38 years has drawn the ire of Randi Weingarten, one of America’s leading labor leaders.

“As a Jew who grew up in the Conservative movement and a union leader, I’m appalled at what has transpired at the Perelman Jewish Day School,” she said. “Management has taken it upon itself to strip the educators of their voice and their union, in direct violation of core tenets of our faith—honoring the treatment of our workers and our teachers.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.