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Weingarten elected AFT president

by Joe LoVerde

Aug 7, 2008 11:53 AM

Will continue to lead UFT for time being

CHICAGO — The vote to elect the next AFT president was still a day away. But when Randi Weingarten entered the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency hotel for the UFT breakfast at the national convention, it was clear who would be the choice of the 620 New York City public school delegates.

Weaving around tables with delegates standing, applauding and rattling the chandeliers with decibel-shattering cheers, Weingarten sheepishly raised a fist. The emotion of the moment had clearly caught up with the UFT’s 10-year president.

As she climbed the steps to the podium, UFT Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr announced, “I’d like you to welcome the next president of the American Federation of Teachers — Randi Weingarten!”

Two days later, it became official.

Weingarten addressed the 3,500 convention delegates after the announcement of her election was made on the morning of July 14, promising to fight for a national reform agenda that protects and improves the institutions where the 1.4 million AFT members work, while bettering the lives and prospects of those they serve — particularly those in need.

“This agenda will embrace everything AFT members do — early childhood education, K-12 education, higher education and public services of all kinds,” Weingarten said.

Weingarten thanked the outgoing president, Ed McElroy, and secretary-treasurer, Nat LaCour — both of whom announced their retirement — for their long commitment and service to the national union. She vowed that “no matter what, we will fight for what is right for the kids and the communities we serve in a manner that respects the dignity of the hard-working people we are honored to represent.”

As many UFT members encouraged her to do, Weingarten will also continue leading the local union for the time being. She promised the UFT delegates at the convention that the UFT would still tirelessly work on their behalf despite her additional responsibilities.

“I am determined to make sure the UFT doesn’t miss a beat,” she told them. She also thanked them for their support throughout her presidency. “I am so proud,” Weingarten said, “that when things got tough you were always out there. Everybody knows UFTers are fighters — fighters for our children and fighters for our members.”

Antonia Cortese, who served as AFT executive vice president since 2004, was elected secretary-treasurer of the national union, while Lorretta Johnson, an AFT vice president and leader of the AFT in Maryland as well as the Baltimore Teachers Union’s paraprofessionals chapter, was voted executive vice president.

Delegates also elected 39 AFT vice presidents, including two UFTers. Michael Mulgrew, UFT vice president of career and technical high schools, was elected for the first time, and Shelvy Young Abrams, paraprofessionals chapter leader, was re-elected.

During her speech to the AFT delegation, Weingarten asked AFT members to rededicate themselves to strengthening their respective institutions in order to give every American the services he or she deserves.

“Let’s proudly present our vision of an America that offers all our children a fair start, a healthy start and a hopeful start in their journeys in life — the vision that inspires our ideals for community schools, health care for every family, college opportunity and career training for every American, and a strong and growing labor movement that empowers every worker and dignifies all work,” Weingarten said.

Weingarten also argued that the No Child Left Behind Act is, in fact, leaving behind the very children it was intended to help, and has outlived its usefulness.

“These are the children who have the least opportunity outside the schoolhouse walls to be exposed to all the elements of a well-rounded education: the arts and physical fitness, the ability to think critically and to argue logically, the value of active citizenship, and a knowledge of different people and places. NCLB slams the schoolhouse door on what makes up modern civilization and replaces it with multiple choice questions,” she said.

Weingarten said the union needs to prepare students for 21st-century jobs. “Employers say that they are looking for workers who can devise new solutions,” she said. “But how will kids who have spent 12 years learning to keep their pencil marks inside the bubbles ever be able to think outside the box?”

A key aspect of Weingarten’s proposed solution is the expansion of the community school model — schools that serve the neediest children by bringing together all the services and activities they and their families need under one roof.

“Imagine schools that are open all day, and offer after-school and evening recreational activities and homework assistance; high schools that allow students to sign up for morning, afternoon or evening classes. And suppose the schools included child care and dental, medical and other services the community needs.”

Weingarten called on AFT members to assert their role as change agents in order to improve the institutions in which they work.

“We in the AFT believe that professionals who serve the public have a crucial contribution to make — not just in making sure that services are delivered, but in making changes that ensure that services are delivered better than ever,” she said.

During her 10 years as UFT president, Weingarten gained a reputation as a reform-minded leader who has demonstrated her commitment to improving schools, hospitals and public institutions for children, families and their communities.

Before introducing her at the UFT breakfast, Barr recounted many of the UFT’s gains under Weingarten’s leadership.

“But now,” Barr said, “we all have to step it up and allow Randi Weingarten to do for the rest of the country what she’s done for us.”