Pictured (from left): CWA's Morton Bahr, Yuval Rabin, McElroy and Sen. John Reed. Photo by Ray Crowell, Page One Photography

When Edward J. McElroy on Sept. 20 accepted the Yitzhak Rabin Education Leadership Award, the AFT president said he felt like he was "sharing it with Sandy Feldman." McElroy, who was honored by the American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center at a dinner in Washington, D.C., had requested that proceeds from the event go towards the dedication of a classroom in Feldman's memory at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, located in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The classroom, in center's Morton Bahr Educational Wing, will host workshops and seminars on such issues as civic responsibility and democratic governance. Feldman's "lifelong commitment to education, to the labor movement and disadvantaged kids had a profound and lasting impact on the AFT and all of those who met and knew her," said McElroy. Feldman, who served as president of the AFT from 1997 until 2004 after a 30-year career with the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, died in September 2005.

The center seeks to preserve the legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated while in office in 1995, by promoting the ideals he championed—international leadership development, public dialogue and tolerance. Rabin's son, Yuval, said his father would have been proud that the first Yitzhak Rabin Education Leadership Award was being presented to the president of the American Federation of Teachers. "My father understood that for Israel to be strong and secure it has to depend on an educated citizenry," he said. "Like my father, Ed has devoted his life to making education a national priority."

In his remarks, McElroy noted Yitzhak Rabin's close association with the Israeli labor movement and praised Rabin's efforts to reach out to the Palestinian community and to emphasize the need for reconciliation among Israel's numerous ethnic groups. Rabin and Feldman shared a commitment to fighting for democratic values, he added. Both understood that to exist and thrive, a democracy needs to ensure equality of opportunity, "including access to a quality education that puts every child on an equal footing."

Also at the dinner, Sen. John Reed (D-R.I.), Morton Bahr, president emeritus of the Communications Workers of America, and AFL-CIO president John Sweeney offered their congratulations to the AFT president. The dinner was co-chaired by AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese, Ted Kirsch, president of AFT Pennsylvania and an AFT vice president, United Federation of Teachers president and AFT vice president Randi Weingarten, and AFT secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour.

The Rabin Center, which was dedicated in 2005, features a museum with interactive exhibits that explore the development of contemporary Israeli society and Rabin's career as a soldier and statesman. [Roger Glass]

September 22, 2006