PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The new teachers contract between the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers is a great deal, according to school and union officials.

And by great deal, officials mean it will balloon the district’s debt by about $300 million over the next five years and drive up the projected deficit to nearly $1 billion, according to Philly.com.

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“We’re glad that the contract is settled,” PFT boss Jerry Jordan told The Philadelphia Tribune. “We know that it will bring stability to the School District of Philadelphia. The retention of teachers I believe will be much better because people will be able to plan their futures.”

PFT members voted to 4,399 to 213 to approve the contract on Monday, and the district’s state appointed School Reform Commission signed off in a 4-1 vote the next day.

The agreement comes about five years after the last PFT contract expired in 2012, when the district was more than $600 million in the hole. The projected deficit is now at about $700 million, and the new contract is expected to add another $202 million to that total over the next three years and $395 million through 2022, according to Philly.com.

“The teachers of Philadelphia have gone long enough without a contract and this contract is one that benefits our teachers, our students and the entire School District of Philadelphia,” SRC chairwoman Joyce Wilkerson said in a prepared statement.

Mayor Jim Kenney said the contract is “an important step for students, teachers and Philadelphians.”

City Council President Darrell L. Clarke also applauded the deal and blamed the district’s chronic budget problems on “underfunding” from the state, despite the fact that the district’s previous teachers contract provided free legal counsel for teachers, automatic annual raises, payouts for unused sick days, and numerous other expensive union perks.

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“This is a fair contract that shows respect for the professionalism and dedication of PFT members,” he added. “While the District continues to suffer from years of underfunding from Harrisburg and a broken governance model in the form of the state-run School Reform Commission, (Superintendent William) Hite and his administration have worked aggressively to shore up facilities, resources, and personnel, all while implementing new strategies such as community schools to support every facet of our children.”

SRC member Bill Green isn’t buying the hype, and was the only member of the commission to vote against the “unaffordable and irresponsible” deal he expects to lead to as many as 3,800 teacher layoffs, or a 17 percent hike in property taxes.

“It is not paid for, and there is no commitment to pay for it,” Green said. “The city administration intervened in these negotiations and proposed a number to both sides that we cannot afford.”

Green pointed to the district’s deficit, which will explode to $979 million with the new contract, and questioned Hite and district financial officer Uri Monson on how they plan to pay for it.

“The state has not offered to help; in fact, Republican leaders have expressed disbelief that the district would agree to a contract it cannot now afford,” according to Philly.com.

Hite and Monson expect the state and city to help cover the funding gap, but Green said he did not “believe that these monies will show up from the city or state.”

Commissioner Farah Jimenez also questioned the district’s “apocalyptic” financial outlook with the deal, though she ultimately voted to approve the contract.

Jimenez warned officials that locals will be forced to pay for the “magnums of champagne that we pop today” and shouldn’t expect the state to cover the cost.

“The bill will come due to me and you,” she said.

And despite Hite’s claims that the contract is a good things for students, he explained to the SRC on Tuesday that it’s already impacting the classroom.

“Hite, at the SRC meeting, said that the district was walking back a promise to hire 113 new teachers to eliminate split classes and to halt leveling – the process of shifting teachers around to address enrollment shifts – in the lower grades,” Philly.com reports.

“In order to make this contract work financially, we had to make a few tough choices,” Hite said. “These are decisions we do not take lightly, but these decisions will save the district over $45 million over the life of the contract.”