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State delegates endorse Weingarten’s bid for AFT president
Apr 24, 2008 2:31 PM
Former UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools John Soldini — flanked by his daughter, Michelle Castelli (left), and wife, Dina — shows off the plaque he received as one of two NYSUT Retiree Members of the Year.
UFT President Randi Weingarten’s candidacy for president of the AFT was endorsed overwhelmingly by NYSUT, the UFT’s statewide affiliate, on April 11 during its annual Representative Assembly at the New York Hilton. Weingarten had announced her decision to run for the national teachers union post at a breakfast with the UFT delegation earlier in the day.
Weingarten said that, if elected, she will continue to head the UFT for a time, just as her predecessors Sandra Feldman and Al Shanker did.
Deciding to run was not easy, she told the convention. In fact, she had asked AFT President Ed McElroy to stay on. She lauded his leadership at the AFT during a critical time after Feldman resigned for health reasons four years ago. But when McElroy made it clear that he intended to retire, Weingarten said the increasing challenges facing education and the labor movement made her determined to seek the national office.
The Representative Assembly was held just days after a bruising fight with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in which NYSUT and the UFT blocked attempts to tie tenure to standardized test scores. Weingarten inveighed against public officials who seem determined to undermine educators. “No matter what they do to present themselves as child protectors,” she said, “the wolf under their sheepskin always shows through.” But, she added, “If using our power on behalf of hard-working educators and the students they serve is a sin, I am guilty a 100 times over.”
Weingarten noted that public education and labor have always been the “catalyst” for an upwardly mobile middle class. “We will win this fight to have economic dignity and educational opportunities for our members, the children serve and for all working people around the country.” And that, she said, “is why I’m going to run for this office.”
UFTers join fellow members of the New York State chapter of the AFT Black Caucus.
UFT President Randi Weingarten acknowledges the cheers after announcing her intention to run for AFT president at the UFT breakfast during the NSYUT RA.
Health Care Professionals Member of the Year Cora Shillingford (blue jacket), a Federation of Nurses/UFT member, and family members.
UFT Vice President Aminda Gentile (left) after being presented the Sandra Feldman “Not for Ourselves Alone” Leadership Award by NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira.
