American Federation of Teachers
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AFT
American Federation of Teachers
Predecessor
American Federation of Teachers and Students
Founded
April 15, 1916[1]
Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
Location
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United States
Members
1.7 million
Key people
Randi Weingarten, president
Affiliations
AFL–CIO, Education International
Website
www.aft.org
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor
union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was
founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.[2][3][4][5]
About 60 percent of AFT's membership works directly in education, with the remainder
of the union's members composed of paraprofessionals and school-related personnel;
local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and
other healthcare professionals.[6] The AFT has, since its founding, affiliated with trade
union federations: until 1955 the American Federation of Labor, and now the AFL–CIO.
Contents
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1History
2Presidents of the AFT
3Political activities
4Activities
o 4.1Race relations
o 4.2Collective bargaining
o 4.3Active shooter drills
o 4.4Share My Lesson
5Reception
6Leadership
o 6.1Presidents
o 6.2Secretary-Treasurers
7Notable AFT members
8Notable AFT locals and federations
9See also
10References
11Further reading
12Archives
13External links
History[edit]
Total membership (US records; ×1000)[7]
Finances (US records; ×$1000)[7]
Assets
Liabilities
Receipts
Disbursements
AFT was founded in Chicago, Illinois, on April 15, 1916. Charles Stillman was the first
president and Margaret Haley was the national organizer. On May 9, 1916, the
American Federation of Labor chartered the AFT. By 1919, AFT had 100 local affiliates
and a membership of approximately 11,000 teachers, which amounted to 1.5% of the
nation's teaching force. In its early days, AFT distinguished itself from the National
Education Association (NEA) by its exclusion of school administrators from
membership. Facing opposition from politicians and boards of education, membership in
AFT declined to 7,000 by 1930. During this period, the organization had little impact on
local or national education policy.[6]
AFT membership climbed during the Great Depression, reaching 33,000 by 1939.
During the 1930s, AFT, whose members had historically been primary school teachers,
saw influential college professors join the union. Also during the 1930s, the Communist
Party gained influence within the AFT.[6] In 1941, under pressure from the AFL, the union
ejected three local unions in New York City and Philadelphia (including its prominent
early member, the New York City Teachers Union, AFT Local 5) for being communist-
dominated. The charter revocations represented nearly a third of the union's national
membership.[8]
The 1940s were marked by a series of teacher strikes, including 57 strikes that occurred
from 1946 through 1949. By 1947, AFT had a membership of 42,000. The 1960s and
1970s also saw numerous teacher strikes, including 1,000 strikes involving more than
823,000 teachers between 1960 and 1974.
AFT membership was 59,000 in 1960, 200,000 in 1970, and 550,000 in 1980.[6] In 2017,
membership was around 1.6 million, and the union had due income of $35 million. [9]
Since 1977, AFT has published a quarterly magazine for teachers covering various
issues about children and education called American Educator. In 1998, the
membership of the NEA rejected a proposed merger with AFT. The AFT's membership
is half that of the NEA.[6]
Presidents of the AFT[edit]
Albert Shanker
In 1974, Albert Shanker was elected president of AFT. He served in this role until his
death on February 22, 1997.[10] For 27 years, Shanker wrote a weekly column entitled
"Where We Stand" that ran as an advertisement in The New York Times. Shanker was
an early advocate of charter schools.[10] He also called for a national competency test for
teachers, merit pay for teachers, and more rigorous requirements for high school
graduation.[11] During his tenure as AFT president, Shanker was jailed twice for leading
illegal strikes.[12]
Sandra Feldman
Sandra Feldman served as AFT's president from 1997 to 2004. Feldman helped craft
the No Child Left Behind Act.[13]
Edward J. McElroy
Edward J. McElroy, the AFT's secretary-treasurer since 1992, was elected president of
the AFT in 2004, replacing Feldman.[14] On February 12, 2008, McElroy announced he
would retire at the union's regularly scheduled biennial convention in July. On July 14,
2008, Randi Weingarten was elected to succeed him.[15]
Randi Weingarten
On July 14, 2008, Randi Weingarten, then the president of the United Federation of
Teachers, was elected to succeed McElroy as AFT president. In September 2008, she
announced the launch of the AFT Innovation Fund, a union-led, private foundationsupported effort to provide grants to AFT unions to develop and implement innovations
in education.[16] In 2014, Weingarten announced that AFT was ending a five-year funding
relationship between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the AFT Innovation
Fund.[17] According to Department of Labor filings, Weingarten earned nearly $560,000
in total compensation during the 2013–2014 school year.[18][19]