Edward J. McElroy Elected AFT President

Emphasizes Efforts to Halt "Exodus" of Public School Teachers, Continuity in AFT Policies

Washington, D.C.—Edward J. McElroy used his first speech as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to warn that school officials and policy makers were ignoring America’s serious teacher retention crisis "at great peril." McElroy was elected today as president of the 1.3 million-member AFT by delegates attending the union’s biennial convention, held this week in Washington, D.C.

McElroy succeeds Sandra Feldman, who for health reasons chose not to seek re-election as AFT president. He assumes the presidency of a union that is one of the fastest growing in the nation, yet whose members are beset by unrelenting challenges. Many of these challenges are causing large numbers of teachers to leave the profession.

Teacher Retention Crisis: Stopping the "Exodus from Public Education"

Calling it an "exodus from public education," the new AFT president noted that nearly half of all new teachers quit within the first five years and half of all new teachers in urban schools leave within just three years. School officials are "in a constant hiring mode," McElroy said, adding that school districts need to hire 200,000 new teachers each year for the foreseeable future – including 70,000 in hard-to-staff, high-poverty urban areas.

"The schoolhouse door has become a revolving door," he explained, due to frustrations and pressures stemming from low teacher salaries, budget cuts, unacceptable teaching and learning conditions, unrealistic expectations and inadequate supports.

He called on school districts to get to the root of why they were "hemorrhaging good teachers" and pledged that the AFT will "be at the forefront of finding and fighting for ways to help good teachers stay in their chosen profession."

No Child Left Behind: A "Missed Opportunity"

Throughout his speech, McElroy cited concerns of AFT members in education, healthcare, public service and higher education stemming from state and federal budget cuts and misguided policy decisions.

He noted the dissatisfaction members have expressed about President Bush’s education policies, which he said amounted to "one big missed opportunity."

McElroy detailed misgivings about the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). He cited AFT’s long history of promoting high standards for students and staff, tests to ensure accountability and efforts to ensure that the achievement of all students is measured and counted. However, McElroy said, the goals of NCLB, in their present form, are "arbitrary and unattainable."

No Child Left Behind "risks becoming a schoolhouse sting operation," McElroy said. "The way NCLB is being implemented, virtually every public school in America could eventually end up on its questionable lists of schools that – purportedly – didn’t make the grade."

The AFT will work with the U.S. Department of Education and the Congress to "fix what is wrong with this law and to give the goals that we have long supported a fighting chance to succeed," McElroy said.

Ties to the Labor Movement

Affirming the AFT’s unwavering commitment to the labor movement, McElroy noted that many of the industrial unions that once helped boost the prospects of fledgling teacher unions now need help themselves.

"Unions have to be smart and adaptable," McElroy said. "But we also have to stand together."

And although teacher union benefits might "look pretty good" when compared to others, McElroy cautioned that many other Americans’ lack of access to health insurance, secure retirement benefits, and "all that is necessary for a decent standard of living," affected the security of union members’ benefits.

"Union members will not exist as an island of privilege," McElroy said. "We must fight to make fair wages and benefits the standard – not a luxury."

Part of that fight will involve "big changes in Washington and in some statehouses across the country," McElroy said. He contrasted the positions of George W. Bush and John Kerry on education, healthcare, access to higher education and economic policy and said that John Kerry would better represent the concerns and interests of AFT members and of all working Americans.

He called on AFT members to work to elect John Kerry as president of the United States, "so that we can get back to advancing ideas that work, rather than staving off attacks on public services and the public good."

Continuity in AFT Policies and Priorities

In his acceptance speech, McElroy emphasized that the AFT’s policies and priorities during his presidency would be a continuation of those advanced during Feldman’s tenure. Calling his predecessor "a voice of clarity and reason," he pledged to pursue the important causes Feldman championed.

McElroy served 12 years as AFT secretary-treasurer prior to his election as president. He began his career as a social studies and English teacher in Warwick, R.I. He was elected president of the Warwick Teachers Union and, at age 30, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers. He joined the AFT executive council in 1974. McElroy was president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO from 1977 until 1992, and he currently serves on the executive council of the national AFL-CIO.

As secretary-treasurer of the AFT, McElroy led efforts to strengthen the union’s financial and accountability requirements at every level. While serving on the AFT executive council, he was instrumental in an initiative that shaped a new direction for the union in its governance and structure. During McElroy’s tenure as secretary-treasurer, the AFT added more than 500,000 new members.

At the same time of McElroy’s election, Nat LaCour, who had served as AFT’s executive vice president, was elected secretary-treasurer. Antonia Cortese, first vice president of the AFT affiliate the New York State United Teachers, was elected executive vice president. The AFT officers were elected to two-year terms.

In addition to McElroy, LaCour and Cortese, a slate of 39 executive council members also was elected at the AFT convention. The slate consists of: Roger Benson (Public Employees Federation), John Cole (Texas Federation of Teachers), Maria Portalatin (United Federation of Teachers), James Doherty (Illinois Federation of Teachers), Herb Magidson (New York), Kathy Chavez (New Mexico Federation of Educational Employees), Tom Mooney (Ohio Federation of Teachers), Louis Malfaro (Education Austin), Sandra Schroeder (Washington Federation of Teachers), Marcia Reback (Rhode Island Federation of Teachers), Laura Rico (ABC Federation of Teachers—Orange County, CA), Maria Neira (New York), William Scheuerman (United University Professions), Patrick Santeramo (Broward Teachers Union—FL), Ann Twomey (Health Professionals and Allied Employees—NJ), Ruby Newbold (Detroit Association of Educational Office Employees), Alan Lubin (New York State United Teachers—NYSUT), Paul Cole (New York State AFL-CIO), David Hecker (Michigan Federation of Teachers and School Related Personnel), David Gray (Oklahoma City Federation of Classified Employees), Louise Sundin (Minneapolis Federation of Teachers), Albert Fondy (Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers), Ted Kirsch (Philadelphia Federation of Teachers), Randi Weingarten (United Federation of Teachers—NY), Sandra Irons (Gary Teachers Union—IN), Adam Urbanski (Rochester Teachers Union—NY), Barbara Bowen (Professional Staff Congress), Janna Garrison (Detroit Federation of Teachers ), Mary Bergan (California Federation of Teachers), Thomas Hobart (NYSUT), Richard Iannuzzi (NYSUT), Steven Frey (Yonkers Federation of Teachers—NY), Candice Owley (Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals), James McGarvey (Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers), Edward Doherty (Massachusetts Federation of Teachers), Judy Schaubach (Education Minnesota), Loretta Johnson (Baltimore Teachers Union), Ivan Tiger (NYSUT), and Andy Ford (Florida Education Association).

# # # #