Hillary Clinton, a surprise guest at NYSUT’s Representative Assembly on April 8, promised the nearly 1,800 delegates they “will have a partner in the White House” if she is elected president of the United States.

“I am with you, I will fight for you, I will stand up for you and together we will do what we must to make sure public education is all it should be in America,” Clinton said to a standing ovation.

Clinton noted that for the first time a majority of children in the nation’s public schools are poor. “Like you, I think hard about the questions that we are facing,” she said. “For example, how can we do better for the millions of children living in poverty in America?”

She contended that more testing won’t solve the problems of homelessness or poverty.

“I know our teachers and schools do amazing things for our kids every day. But I also know you can’t do it alone. You need your country to have your backs, too.”

She vowed that, if elected, “I will have your backs.”

Last July, the American Federation of Teachers became the first national union to endorse Clinton. The National Education Association endorsed her in October.

NYSUT, the UFT’s state affiliate, recognized several UFT members during its two-day convention in Rochester.

Lorna Baptiste, who retired in January as the assistant director of the UFT Welfare Fund, received one of the state union’s top honors — the Not for Ourselves Alone: The Sandy Feldman Outstanding Leadership Award. Baptiste served for 32 years with the Welfare Fund.

“Lorna’s compassion is incredible,” said UFT Welfare Fund Executive Director Arthur Pepper. “It’s evidenced in the thousands of people she’s assisted over the years.”

Vince Gaglione, the Retired Teachers Chapter treasurer and a former Bronx borough representative, was recognized as a Retiree Member of the Year, and Mindy Karten Bornemann, the longtime chapter leader of the Speech Improvement Chapter, was honored as a Health Care Professional Member of the Year.

NYSUT also recognized the contributions of the UFT’s Bob Astrowsky, who has served as the chair of the NYSUT RA Convention Committee for 44 years.

The convention delegates passed nearly 40 resolutions that will guide the state union’s agenda going forward. Among them, NYSUT called for an end to inappropriate student testing as well as the state’s punitive receivership law.