Sandra Feldman Delivers Final Speech as AFT President

Leader Urges Convention Delegates To Continue To Fight
on Behalf of Disadvantaged Children

Washington, D.C.—Sandra Feldman delivered her final address as AFT president today, calling on convention delegates to focus on the union's "unfinished agenda," which includes "the fight for a level playing field for all children, in and out of school."

In a speech that combined outlines for future action and reflections on the past, Feldman recalled AFT's long tradition of activism, which she said would help the union continue to be an agent for positive change. She reminded delegates of AFT's strong bonds to the broader labor movement, and called on the union to redouble its efforts to achieve "full employment, decent housing and universal healthcare" for all Americans. Feldman, who is active in efforts to promote democracy and serves on the boards of the International Rescue Committee and Freedom House, also criticized the Bush administration's post-war efforts in Iraq. She exhorted members to help elect John Kerry and overturn the Bush administration, which she said has "failed mightily when it comes to aftermaths" in Iraq and here at home.

The outgoing president praised union leaders and members for maintaining AFT's longstanding commitment to the "cause of equality and justice," citing AFT's filing of an amicus brief in the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board ruling in 1954, the union's decision in 1957 to expel local affiliates that refused to integrate and its continuing pursuit of more resources for children in disadvantaged communities.

Feldman also reviewed the union's impact on education during her tenure as president. She noted that students in New Mexico are benefiting from Kindergarten-Plus, an early childhood initiative she first proposed in 2002. AFT's reading instruction methods have been used as a model in school districts across the country, and many states have focused greater attention on reducing class size and providing quality pre-school--measures that AFT pushed hard for during Feldman's tenure.

The AFT leader, who was first elected national president in 1997 after serving as president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City for more than a decade, has been active in the union since the mid-1960s. Feldman recalled a number of her early experiences as an activist in the civil rights movement, which intensified her already strong belief that labor unions and coalitions could bring about positive social change. She worked to integrate Howard Johnsons, for which she and others were jailed in Baltimore, lay in front of a bulldozer to protest all-white construction sites and dumped Harlem's uncollected garbage off the Triborough Bridge. Feldman also noted that she shared many of those experiences with people whom she is close to today, including other union leaders and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Feldman's speech was interrupted repeatedly by standing ovations and sustained applause from convention delegates, who were expected to pass a special order expressing AFT's gratitude to Feldman for her "contributions to the union, to public education, to the labor movement and to the cause of freedom and democracy." Feldman informed union members in May that she would not run for another two-year term at this convention because of health issues.

The full text of the speech is available at:

www.aft.org/presscenter/speeches-columns/speeches/feldman071404.htm

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