Randi Weingarten Elected AFT President
Antonia Cortese Elected Secretary-Treasurer; Lorretta Johnson Elected Executive VP

CHICAGO – Delegates to the 2008 American Federation of Teachers convention today elected a new slate of national officers, voting to install Randi Weingarten as president, Antonia Cortese as secretary-treasurer and Lorretta Johnson as executive vice president.

Weingarten has served 10 years as president of the 200,000-member United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the largest union local in the United States. Cortese has served the past four years as AFT executive vice president. Johnson, president of AFT-Maryland, also serves as president of the Baltimore Teachers Union’s paraprofessional chapter.

“The three of us are committed to improving schools, hospitals and public institutions for children, families and communities,” Weingarten said. “We will build on this union’s great tradition of confronting injustice, embracing the excluded, questioning conventional wisdom, challenging the status quo—and working 24/7 to improve the institutions where our members work.”

A former social studies teacher and lawyer, Weingarten has distinguished herself through her tireless advocacy for students and the union members who work with them in and out of classrooms. She is noted for her continual outreach to parents and community groups, and her success in joining them in effective coalitions. Weingarten has stood toe to toe with governors, mayors and schools chancellors on behalf of children and educators, and stands side by side with members in their total commitment to their profession and their communities.

During Weingarten’s UFT tenure, the public schools saw a marked increase in student achievement. She negotiated a 43 percent increase in educators’ salaries that helped the city recruit and retain qualified teachers. And her innovative differential pay programs have fostered teamwork over competition, and have amplified teachers’ voices. In 2007, Weingarten mounted the single most successful organizing campaign in recent AFT history, bringing 28,000 New York City-based home child care workers into the union. Weingarten also has developed a strong national reputation for seeking new and creative ways to address persistent challenges. In that spirit, she has opened two union-operated charter schools in New York City and partnered with a pro-union private charter school operator to open another.

Antonia Cortese was first vice president of the now 600,000-member New York State United Teachers before coming to the AFT in 2004. She began her education career in Rome, N.Y., where she taught fourth grade and served as a school social worker. A member of numerous national education and service organizations, boards and commissions, Cortese also serves as the AFT’s liaison to Special Olympics, the union’s designated charitable foundation.

Lorretta Johnson began her career as a teacher’s aide in the Baltimore City schools, where she organized a union to improve the work situation of paraprofessionals like herself, and has subsequently become a leading voice for Maryland’s working families. Over her career, she has played a leading role in the national development of standards for the employment and training of classroom paraprofessionals, highlighting the importance of these positions in the ultimate success of schools.

All three new national officers are longtime members of the AFT executive council.

“Working together, Toni, Lorretta and I will fight every day for our members, and the children, families and communities we serve,” Weingarten said. “We will never waver in our commitment to our public schools, our healthcare centers, our public institutions and our labor movement.”

Delegates also elected 39 AFT vice presidents. Ten, listed below, were elected for the first time:

• Mary Armstrong, president of AFT St. Louis;
• Elsie Burkhalter, president of the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees (La.);
• Thomas A. Dooher, president of Education Minnesota;
• Ed Geppert, Jr., president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers;
• Dennis Kelly, president of the United Educators of San Francisco;
• Francine Lawrence, president of the Toledo Federation of Teachers (Ohio);
• Merlene Martin, president of the Oregon School Employees Association;
• Michael Mulgrew, vice president of career and technical high schools at the United Federation of Teachers (N.Y.);
• Sharon Palmer, president of AFT Connecticut; and
• Phillip Smith, president of United University Professions (N.Y.).

Below are the 29 re-elected vice presidents:

• Shelvy Y. Abrams, first vice chairperson of the United Federation of Teachers paraprofessional chapter;
• Linda Bridges, president of Texas AFT;
• Barbara Bowen, president of Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York;
• Kenneth Brynien, president of New York State Public Employees Federation;
• Stacey Caruso-Sharpe, member of the Amsterdam Federation of Teachers (N.Y.);
• Kathy Chavez, vice president of AFT New Mexico;
• Lee Cutler, secretary-treasurer of New York State United Teachers;
• Edward J. Doherty, special assistant to the president of the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers;
• Kathleen M. Donahue, second vice president of New York State United Teachers;
• Eric Feaver, president of the MEA-MFT (Mont.);
• Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association;
• David Gray, president of the Oklahoma City Federation of Classified Employees;
• Judy Hale, president of AFT-West Virginia;
• David Hecker, president of AFT Michigan;
• Richard Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers;
• Jerry T. Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers;
• Ted Kirsch, president of AFT Pennsylvania;
• Alan Lubin, executive vice president of New York State United Teachers;
• Louis Malfaro, president of Education Austin (Texas);
• Maria Neira, a vice president of New York State United Teachers;
• Ruby J. Newbold, president of the Detroit Association of Educational Office Employees;
• Candice Owley, president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals;
• Marcia Reback, president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals;
• Laura Rico, president of the ABC Federation of Teachers (Calif.);
• Pat Santeramo, president of the Broward Teachers Union (Fla.);
• Sandra Schroeder, president of AFT Washington;
• Marilyn Stewart, president of the Chicago Teachers Union;
• Ann Twomey, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (N.J.); and
• Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association (N.Y.)

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