PHILADELPHIA – Back in 1975, the New York Daily News blasted a bold-face headline across the top of its front page:

“Ford to city: Drop dead.”

The headline was referring to former President Gerald Ford’s refusal to provide a massive financial bailout to New York City. Ford’s decision was based on the fact that New York officials had been spending beyond their means for years, and had no plan to change their financial policies.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

They simply wanted a big dip of federal money to continue their free-spending ways. Ford wisely turned them away, despite the pounding he took from the liberal media.

The same type of situation is occurring right now in the Philadelphia school district.

The district is facing a $300 million deficit and recently announced the layoffs of hundreds of employees. District officials have called for financial assistance from the city and state and concessions from the teachers union.

But the mayor recently announced that no money would be forthcoming, and the union has made it clear that concessions are out of the question.

That leaves the burden on the state. City and school officials are calling on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to give the district $45 million the state received when the federal government decided to forgive interest and penalties owed for an unrelated debt, according to Philly.com.

They say the district needs the money to open its doors for the fall semester.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

But Corbett and some Republicans in the state legislature say they want to see union concessions before they hand over the money.

That’s just common sense. To invest the money without major changes in the teachers union collective bargaining agreement would be throwing good money after bad.

Philadelphia school officials have been running their district as if money goes on trees, and union teachers have been major beneficiaries. The recently expired union contract contained wildly expensive provisions.

Last year EAGnews released a report that showed the district spent $14.4 million on a poorly-timed raised for all teachers in 2011-12. Another $2.6 million was spent to cover the cost of teachers’ personal legal expenses.

Another $165 million was spent on employee health insurance (employees paid a total of $270,000 – less than one percent), $66 million on a “health and welfare fund” for employees, $15.3 million on reimbursement for unused sick and personal days, $579,000in college tuition reimbursement for teachers, and $23 million for extracurricular activities supervision.

If the union does not agree to drop many of those costs in the new contract, it would be pointless for the state to bail out the district. The district will just go broke again and be back at the state’s door asking for more handouts in a few years.

It’s easy to feel sorry for school officials, who are caught between a rock and a hard place. They can’t force the state to hand over the $45 million, and they can’t force the union to agree to a more financially sensible contract.

State officials could help them a great deal by passing a law similar to Wisconsin’s Act 10, which eliminated most collective bargaining privileges for public sector unions, including teachers unions.

Wisconsin school districts have saved millions of dollars in recent years because they no longer have to base their budgets on union negotiations. They can spend money in ways they feel appropriate, and the union has no power to interfere.

Wisconsin schools have enough money to operate since the change in the law. Philadelphia schools remain hogtied by a union that only cares about sucking as much money from the district as possible, regardless of how it affects students.

State officials should free all Pennsylvania public schools from the deadly collective bargaining game, so they can focus their spending on students and balance budgets without union approval.

Then Philly school officials wouldn’t have to beg for money to keep their doors open.