PHILADELPHIA – As the Sunday expiration date for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers labor contract looms, PFT officials are proposing modest concessions to help alleviate the school district’s massive $304 million deficit.

The announcement came just days after the union launched a media blitz against Mayor Michael Nutter, attempting to paint him as a puppet of Gov. Tom Corbett who is “putting kids at risk” with “short term fixes” for the district’s financial problems.

Suddenly the union seems less confrontational and more willing to compromise.

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“I’m prepared to make a recommendation to our members at our meeting on Monday evening that in order to restore the services to the schools for the children, that we will propose that we accept a pay freeze,” PFT President Jerry Jordan told CBS.

The union also plans to help with health insurance costs, “which may very well mean contributions from members,” Jordan said. That would put Philly teachers on par with most of their peers around the nation who already contribute toward their own health coverage.

Jordan did not provide the television station with a potential cost savings from his proposal.

The proposed concessions are preferable to recent rumors of a possible teachers strike, and the petty print, radio and television ads attacking the mayor. But it’s a far cry from what school officials were hoping to secure during the current round of union contract negotiations.

“The district was seeking teacher pay cuts of anywhere from 5 to 13 percent,” CBS reports.

State and city leaders have pledged about $140 million in extra aid this year to help bail out Philadelphia schools, but the governor won’t begin to release the state’s portion without serious concessions from the PFT. We’re skeptical that the union’s current proposal would satisfy the governor’s demands.

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There’s little doubt the proposed concessions would save the district millions, but there’s also no doubt the union could do better. There’s been a massive amount of unnecessary labor spending in Philadelphia schools that could be cut or postponed for the sake of students.

The union’s current contract is rife with special perks we suspect the public is largely unaware of.

EAGnews analyzed the PFT contract in 2012 and found numerous questionable expenses, including $14.4 million in cost of living increases, $2.6 million for free personal legal services for employees, $165 million for teacher health insurance, $66 million for the union’s “health and welfare fund,” $7.1 million spent on a “wage continuation plan,” $23.6 million in extracurricular pay, $15 million in retirement bonuses, and $25 million in substitute costs.

In other words, the PFT’s apparent about-face regarding contract concessions is good, but not good enough.