In her first race, AFT leader wins seat in Legislature

Jeion Ward knew that opportunities like this don’t come around very often: A long-serving member of the Virginia House of Delegates was retiring, and there was no clear successor to take over the seat that included Ward’s hometown of Hampton. Even though Ward, the president of the Hampton Federation of Teachers, had never run for political office, she had spent countless hours at the state Legislature lobbying for pro-education and pro-labor issues. And she has never been one to avoid a challenge.

Ward ended up earning the endorsement of retiring Democratic delegate Mary Christian, won a contested primary race and then topped her well-funded Republican challenger in the general election by about 10 percent.

“This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Ward says. “Running a campaign is difficult, to say the least. When people are putting you down, you just can’t take it personally.”

Ward calls the enthusiastic support she got from her local, from the AFT and from the broader labor movement the key to her victory. Her opponent was a surgeon and retired two-star general in the Army reserve who already was known in the area from a previous run for the state Legislature. Ward’s campaign highlighted her own background and the central role education played in her professional success. While she was raising children and attending college, Ward worked as a paraprofessional in the Hampton schools. She later earned her teaching certificate and has led the AFT’s Hampton local for six years.

During the campaign, Ward recalls, some people criticized her for talking too much about education. “But then I would say, everything revolves around education,” whether you’re talking about reducing crime or creating jobs, she recalls, adding that she was never shy about touting her labor credentials. “If you cut me, I’m going to bleed AFT blue,” she quips. “Win or lose, it was going to be with what I stand for.”

Virginia ended up being one of the few bright spots in the Southern states during the 2003 elections. While Ward’s victory kept her district in the Democrats’ hands, the party picked up two seats, which marked its first gain in the House of Delegates in 30 years. Republicans still dominate the Virginia Legislature, so Ward is realistic about what she can accomplish. “I may not get everything done, but I can stop some bad things from happening,” she says. Even though she was just sworn in Jan. 14, Ward already is working on legislation related to education for at-risk students and job creation.

Reading and riding keep students quiet and happy

Boring isn’t a word that usually comes to mind when you think of a school bus driver’s job. Stressful, noisy—even terrifying—might be more common adjectives. But for Florida driver Ellie Frechette, following the same route and routines and having a vehicle full of the same well-behaved students just isn’t very exciting.

So Frechette, a member of the United School Employees of Pasco (USEP) in Florida, is always looking for new challenges. On the job, this has involved shifting to a position as a “relief driver,” meaning she never knows what route or what students she’ll be driving from one day to the next. But more broadly, it has meant a constant search for what’s best for the students, other bus drivers and her union colleagues.

A few years ago, for instance, some of Frechette’s fifth-grade riders told her they were worried about moving up to middle school. To ease that transition, Frechette started a pen pal club so the fifth-graders could correspond with some current middle school students. As they boarded the bus, it would be time for mail call to exchange letters. “It worked quite well,” she says. “The kids said they weren’t nervous about becoming sixth-graders anymore.”

Frechette also started a reading club on the bus, a successful way to control noise as well as stimulate young minds. Students would see a variety of books lining the dashboard as they boarded the bus; they could select one or read a book of their own. Just as important, they would also see their driver reading while she waited for all the students to board, because Frechette wanted to set a good example for the youngsters. She would encourage any reluctant readers—especially boys—to look at well-illustrated books about bugs, sharks and dinosaurs. Her enthusiastic reaction to the boys’ desire to show off a book’s ugliest bug, for example, often sparked an interest that led to more difficult reading.

“Some parents would ask me, ‘How did you get my kid to read?’” she says. And a media specialist told Frechette that children who rode her bus also were reading more at school.

Union activities are also central to Frechette, who was elected USEP’s vice president for school-related personnel last year and was also a finalist for the Florida Education Association’s education staff professional of the year award. In addition to her elected positions, Frechette was instrumental in forming a union task force on transportation issues that focused on helping and retaining new drivers by pairing them with a mentor and giving them a brochure of helpful quick tips.

She also looks out for an often overlooked group: transportation assistants. Last year, Frechette hosted an appreciation brunch for the assistants and hopes to make it an annual event. “When you think of transportation, everything is usually about the driver,” she comments. “You don’t think about the assistants, but they need to know they’re important.”

That effort is just another example of what motivates Frechette: “I am happiest when I’m helping people,” she explains, “whether it’s the students on the bus or my colleagues.”

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