House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was in Philadelphia on Monday to promote the expansion of charter schools, vouchers and alternatives to public education. Touring select cities to spread the mantra of school "choice," Cantor made a couple of callous decisions when visiting the City of Brotherly Love. Rather than draw attention to the funding crisis facing Philadelphia’s public schools, he chose to ignore the plight of its 134,000 students. Cantor applauded the rise of charter schools, which have played a direct role in creating the school district’s current crisis.

Dick Yuengling Jr., who runs the D.G. Yuengling and Son brewery out of Pottsville, Pa., says he supports a "right to work" for less law for his home state. He specifically says that such a policy would attract more businesses to the state. He also came out in favor of lowering taxes on businesses.

Jake Long, chair of the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council’s COPE committee and a baker by trade, does not spend most of his days in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, but it did not take him long to form an opinion of the proceedings surrounding the court’s review of the state's contested voter ID law.

Here's a look at some of the key battles in the states over the past week.

This is a cross-post from Working America's Main Street blog. 

With 12 votes needed, only 11 members of the Philadelphia City Council were willing to override Mayor Michael Nutter’s veto of the sick leave bill. For the second time in three years, corporate interests defeated a measure that would allow more than 180,000 Philadelphians to finally earn sick days.

“I’m very disappointed,” said city councilman Bill Greenlee, who tried but failed to get the 12 votes needed to override Mayor Nutter’s veto.  “I’m particularly disappointed for the 180,000 workers who could have had a benefit that other cities are providing.”

Through its NutterWatch campaign, the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces has been counting down the days until Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) is required to act upon a new earned sick days bill, making the case that the legislation should be passed. Nutter has until April 4 to sign the bill or it will become law without his signature. If the law goes into effect, it would pave the way for 200,000 of the city's workers to have the opportunity to earn sick days at work.

A beat-up van pulls to a stop just up the road. A creaky screen door opens from the apartment at the end of the building. A young African American girl runs out toward the van, barely hanging onto a large gym bag that was obviously not meant for such a pint-sized carrier. The driver of the van, a middle-aged white man with glasses and a beard, throws the passenger door to the van open and the little girl tosses the bag onto the floor before climbing in. The apartment door, which had banged shut in the meantime, creaks open again as the girl’s mother waves goodbye.

“Be good. Have fun,” she tells her daughter.

“I’ll have her back by eight,” the driver replies, as the little girl shuts the van door and waves goodbye to her mom.

The latest episode of AFSCME TV describes how working families in the city are standing up to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D), who they say is siding with the wealthy and pushing policies that are harming the rest of the city's residents. In particular, they are upset Nutter closed libraries and schools and refused to negotiate with city workers, who have worked without a contract for four years.

Randi Weingarten, president of AFT, was arrested Thursday for blocking access to a school closure hearing in Philadelphia. AFT spokesman Marcus Mrowka told The Huffington Post that Weingarten was arrested with 18 other community activists for blocking the entrance to the meeting. Weingarten said afterward she knew her actions would lead to arrest, but it was a last-resort attempt to stop the Philadelphia School Reform Commission from closing some of the city's public schools, which she argues would detrimentally affect students, particularly African American and Latino students.

While government in Washington, D.C., remains divided and marked by long-term gridlock, governments in the states are much less divided. Of the 50 states, 37 now feature state governments where the governor and majorities in both legislative houses are controlled by one party—24 of those are controlled by Republicans. Extreme, anti-working family Republicans have repeatedly assaulted the rights of people in recent years and, by all accounts, the trend looks to expand in 2013. Working families are mobilized and fought back in 2012 and will continue to fight in 2013.  The response to the "right to work" for less push in Michigan was so strong, that governors in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have since declared that they won't push for right to work in their states.