American Federation of Teachers

This page was started in the framework of an Eduzendium course and needs to be assessed for quality. If this is done, this {{EZnotice}} can be removed.

American Federation of Teachers
Website	www.aft.org
Founded	1916
Headquarters	Washington , DC United States

A brief overview of your interest group (be sure to put its name in bold in the first sentence) and the scope of the article goes here.

The following list of sections should serve as a loose guideline for developing the body of your article. The works cited in references 2-5 are all fake; their purpose is to serve as a formatting model for your own citations.

Founding

In 1902, the Chicago Teachers' Federation became the first teacher group in the United States to join its local central labor body. Chicago teachers believed that they should be a part of the labor movement. On April 15, 1916 a group of teacher unions gathered at the City Club on Plymouth Court in Chicago. They meet in order to form a new national union: the American Federation of Teachers. The founders included teacher groups in Chicago and locals from Gary, Ind., New York City, Scranton, Pa., and Washington, D.C.

History

In 1939 there were allegations of communist infiltration in some locals members but in 1941, charters of three locals were withdrawn after an investigation and recommendation by the AFT executive council. After World War II the AFT would rally for a cause; war bonds, war relief and air-raid programs were part of daily life for most members. After the war there were many strikes from the teachers asking for better working conditions and better salaries.

In 1948, the union became more active with the civil rights movement. It had stopped chartering segregated locals and filed an amicus brief in the historic 1954 Supreme Court desegregation case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. Then in 1957, the AFT expelled all the locals that refused to desegregate. In the 1960s it held voter registration drives in the South.

In November of 1960 there was a one-day walkout of the United Federation of Teachers of New York City. The events in New York City would have 300 teacher strikes throughout the country, and the national AFT would grow from 60,000 members in 1960 to more than 200,000 by 1970. Two years later the UFT would win their first comprehensive teacher contract in the country, the 1960s would also be the first major strike by university professors in the United States.

The 1970s would be an area to fight tuition tax credits, and trying to restore funds for urban schools. During the 1970s, the AFT became more involved with the AFL-CIO Public Employee Department, which represented the interests of state and local public employees within the federation. In 1977, the union also was active in the AFL-CIO's Department for Professional Employees, which elected then-AFT president Albert Shanker as their first president. Then in 1978, the AFT established a healthcare division and in 1983 created a division for local, state and federal employees. The AFT expanded to take on issues such as healthcare costs, privatization, state and local budget analysis, and more.

The 1980s brought about an international agenda. The AFT and the AFL-CIO provide support to the Polish Solidarity union movement that helped topple communism. The AFT provided training and technical support to any fledgling teacher unions in Eastern Europe. The AFT also sent help to black trade unions in South Africa and lent support to the Chilean teachers union. This support to Chile played a major role in ridding the Chile government of their dictator in 1988. Fifteen AFT members were on hand to monitor the first free and democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

Throughout the 1990s, the AFT would continue as a powerful and persuasive voice for higher academic achievement and excellence. The AFT launched its "Making Standards Matter" reports on the progress of states. This was to establish clear standards for what many students should know and what they should be able to do.

In the 2000s, the union would welcome new members in thousands of job titles such as part-time college faculty, graduate employees, psychologists, forensic scientists, environmental engineers and many more.

Now, the members of the AFT continue to uphold the proud traditions on which the union was created. The union continues to rally to the right causes, anticipate and shape changes that lie ahead and contribute to the social good.

Current objectives and activities

The AFT believes in get its employees a health care plan. Hundreds of AFT members and staff joined the crowd in Washington DC to protest Congress for health care. Even more AFT activists at home keep calling their members of Congress and their U.S. Senators trying to urge Congress to support health care reform based on key principles that the AFT has outlined. AFT members made more than 1,100 calls during the day they protested. The AFT will continue working hard for a unified health care plan for all of their employees.

The AFT has been working on trying to fix the NCLB Act. Since the bill's passage in 2002, the AFT and its state and local affiliations have been working with the Department of Education, as well as state and local education authorities and others educational communities to help achieve the positive goals of the NCLB. The AFT knows that's the principles and goals of the law cannot be met without changes in the law and proper and necessary funding.

The AFT takes a hard stance on child labor laws. Every day, more than 200 million children are forced to work long hours for little to no compensation, often placing themselves in physical danger in the process. The AFT believes that every child has the right to a high-quality education because that is their basic human right. Currently the AFT is working with the Child Labor Coalition. It provides a unified voice for protecting and ending child labor exploitation, both in the United States and on an international level. As part of their mission, the Coalition develops informational and educational resources for both the public and private sectors to combat child labor abuses and promote progressive initiatives and legislation.

Organizational structure

The American Federation of Teachers has more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates, and more than 1.4 million members.

There are five divisions that are within the organization which represents the AFT's membership: teachers; school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff; and nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The AFT advocates public education policies, including high academic and conduct standards for students and greater professionalism for teachers and school staff; excellence in public service through cooperative problem-solving and workplace innovations; and high-quality healthcare provided by qualified professionals.

The AFT elects officers that are to represent and govern the organization. They are elected at the union’s bicentennial convention which they also set union policy during this time. The AFT also hosts the Quality Educational Standards in Teaching conference, where professional issues are discussed and the meeting attracts around 3,000 educators from around the country. Current elected leaders are Randi Weingarten, president, Antonia Cortese, secretary-treasurer, Lorretta Johnson, executive vice president, and a 39-member executive council.

Achievements

On May 17, 1954 there was a unanimous decision regarding Brown vs. Board of Education that was handed down by Chief Justice Warren that "in the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Following this decision there were some school districts that began to voluntarily desegregate schools. There were however five Southern states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia which adopted resolutions that said the Supreme Court’s decision was "null, void, and [had] no effect" in their state. The southern states also began passing legislation that imposed sanctions on anyone who desegregation schools, authorized plans to close schools, and disbursed public funds to send kids to private schools. The 1954 ruling became known as Brown I, because a year later the Supreme Court completed another case ruling in Brown II, which ordered the states to comply with Brown I "with all deliberate speed." Since the court did not specify a timeline for implementing Brown v. Board of Education, most states stalled their efforts to desegregate. These delaying tactics ultimately resulted in protests that started the civil rights movement.

When the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, there was very little government regulation of the education of black children, so the wording and intention of this amendment did not affect public schooling. Chief Justice Warren knew that a unanimous decision on the Brown case was crucial if Southern states were going to comply. It took months to win over the two of the judges, which came only after a major compromise was reached. The justices agreed that the ruling should be implemented gradually rather than immediately. This compromise may have come for the AFT submitting a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in calling on the court to consider the broader arguments for ending segregation in schools: First was "The strengthening and preservation of democratic society demands an educated citizenry." Second “The intent of the 14th amendment was to make the Negro a citizen and protect his voting rights." Third "To exercise his right of choice effectively a voter must not only be educated but educated among all those who make up the total community." Forth "An integrated school system will add tremendously in developing harmonious relations among the people of the south and thereby throughout the country."

On May 8, 1968 the school board in the largely black Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn dismissed 18 white teachers and administrators. The school board’s action led to a series of citywide teacher strikes because the teachers thought this was clear racism. Albert Shanker took charge of the strikes in Ocean Hill. He took a stance in demanding the reinstatement of the Ocean Hill-Brownsville educators. He led New York City teachers out on strike not once, but three times in the fall of 1968, shutting down the public schools for a total of 36 days. Over the next three decades, Shanker would become heavily involved in organized labor for American education. In 1974, he was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers. From here, he helped form the nation’s teachers into a political powerhouse, vigorously fighting efforts to privatize public education, and emerged as one of the country’s most influential voices on education policy.

Public perception and controversies

In developing this final section, be especially careful about maintaining a neutral stance and tone. Your aim should be to document the public's perception of your group and/or any controversies in which it is or has been embroiled without weighing in with your own opinion about them.