The Philadelphia school district’s sudden cancellation of its teachers’ contract in October sent shock waves far beyond the City of Brotherly Love.

Public education advocates in other cities who have grown used to union-bashing and teacher-blaming were nevertheless stunned by the brazenness of the action by the state-run School Reform Commission in Philadelphia. In addition to dissolving the contract, the commission unilaterally cut teachers’ health benefits.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew told the Delegate Assembly on Oct. 22 that the situation in Philadelphia shows how much is at stake in the fight to protect public schools.

“We are in a national war over public education,” Mulgrew said, adding, “We have promised to help any union in trouble. We have to help our brothers and sisters in other cities.”

The Delegate Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in support of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. As part of that support, some UFT retirees have volunteered to help the campaign to defeat Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in his re-election bid in November.

The Philadelphia teachers’ union won a victory on Oct. 20 when a judge granted its request for a temporary injunction against the cancellation of the contract and imposition of health care changes until a court determines whether the commission had the legal authority to take such action.

The commission, which is controlled by Gov. Corbett, made its notorious moves at an early morning meeting on Oct. 6 that was held with no advance notice to teachers, union representatives or the public. Under the panel’s edict, teachers would have to pay for a substantial portion of their health benefits — the union has calculated that it could cost some families as much as $12,000 a year.

The commission’s action came after it had failed during months of contract negotiations to force teachers to accept big cuts in pay and benefits.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan said the commission’s action essentially put the contract negotiations before the courts. “We’re hoping for a quick resolution that brings this matter where it belongs — back to the bargaining table,” he said.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Ted Kirsch, the head of the AFT’s state affiliate, suggested that the Corbett-controlled commission was making a desperate move to try to improve the governor’s chances of re-election.

“Three weeks before the gubernatorial election, this surprise early-morning School Reform Commission meeting … can only be characterized as Gov. Corbett’s well-planned Hail Mary ambush,” Weingarten and Kirsch said in a joint statement. “Corbett’s School Reform Commission has amped up a war on teachers and support staff, who have been the glue holding Philadelphia’s schools together.”

Corbett may have been influenced by a 2013 poll, sponsored by a group that supports school vouchers, which found that the governor could improve his chances for re-election if he took on the teachers’ union.

It didn’t work.

Two weeks after the commission’s vote to cancel the teachers’ contract, the governor continued to trail his Democratic challenger, Tom Wolf, by double digits.

And parents, students and teachers in Philadelphia were galvanized by the commission’s blatant attack on teachers.

A massive rally on Oct. 16 drew 3,000 teachers, parents, students and union allies to the streets outside the offices where the commission was scheduled to meet. Weingarten, speaking at the event, called Philadelphia “ground zero” in the war on public education.

The day before, the Philadelphia Student Union disrupted the commission’s public screening of an anti-union film, “Won’t Back Down,” at district headquarters. “Philly is a union town,” the students chanted as they planted themselves on the floor in front of the movie screen.

Corbett has aggressively attacked public schools in Philadelphia as well as the entire state since he took office in 2011. He and Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled state Legislature cut $1 billion from education statewide while tripling the size of corporate tax breaks.

Philadelphia educates 10 percent of the state’s students but had to absorb more than 25 percent of the budget cuts. Twenty-four schools have been closed. Thousands of teachers, nurses, counselors, aides and other staff have been laid off, and funding for books, supplies, sports and music has been slashed.