Edward J. McElroy Delivers Final Address as AFT President
Highlights the Union’s Growth, Political Activity and Agenda for Reform

CHICAGO – Edward J. McElroy, president of the more than 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, today urged his members to step up the efforts that have made the AFT one of the most reform-oriented, politically effective and fastest-growing unions in the country. “We have much to be proud of,”  McElroy said, “but there is much more to do,” especially in the November elections.

McElroy’s tenure as an AFT national officer will end with his retirement at the AFT convention, which began today in Chicago and concludes on Monday with the installation of new national officers. He was elected AFT president in 2004, after serving 12 years as the union’s secretary-treasurer. McElroy has placed significant emphasis on organizing, and the AFT has grown by more than 108,000 members in the last two years alone.

 McElroy made political action a centerpiece of his AFT presidency. Through the Activists for Congressional Education program McElroy instituted, there have been hundreds of meetings of AFT members and their elected representatives to discuss crucial issues. AFT members have sent more than 100,000 letters to elected representatives on important legislation through the AFT e-Activists program. Through efforts such as these, AFT members have helped secure many legislative victories, including the largest expansion of college aid since the 1944 GI Bill and the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade.

 McElroy recalled the AFT’s long history of advancing reform and urged members to “continue to be known for leading change—sound, sensible and necessary change,” but also to be ready to act when change does not work. The No Child Left Behind Act is such a case, he said.

McElroy pledged that the AFT would work with the next president to move beyond the No Child Left Behind Act (which he called “an idea whose time has gone”) to “create a new education law that respects the knowledge of classroom professionals and helps teachers and paraprofessionals provide our students with the high-quality education they deserve.”

He also reiterated the AFT’s longstanding support for professional compensation plans, while underscoring that such plans must be developed jointly with teacher representatives.

McElroy talked about the breadth of the union’s interests and advocacy. “We can pursue both the common good and our own individual goals,” he said, noting that was why the AFT maintained an interest in pensions, insurance, economic development and environmental policy, in addition to its focus on issues seen as more directly related to its members.

 Pledging to remain part of the AFT’s cause, McElroy bade farewell to those who think that “the only expertise one needs to dictate what goes on in schools is zero knowledge about what actually makes schools work.” He also had parting words for “governors, legislators, employers and labor commissioners who throw obstacles in the way of union organizing” and for those who “cannot see that [unions] are central to a democratic society.”

Referring to the union’s impending leadership change, McElroy said that the AFT “is incredibly fortunate to have such exceptional leaders standing for office,” as well as to have members and state and local leaders committed to working through their union to strengthen the institutions in which they work and advance the common good.

Read a transcript of President McElroy's address.

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