Workshops and seminars on topics such as civic responsibility and democratic governance will be held in the classroom, which is located in the center’s Morton Bahr Educational Wing. “It’s fitting that a classroom be named in honor of Sandy,” McElroy said. “Her lifelong commitment to education, to the labor movement and to disadvantaged kids had a profound and lasting impact on the AFT and all of those who met and knew her.” Feldman was president of the AFT from 1997 until 2004; she died in September 2005.

Feldman’s husband, Arthur Barnes, said his late wife “would have been enthusiastic” about the establishment of the classroom in her honor “and the possibilities that exist for its future.”

The Rabin Center seeks to preserve the legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated while in office in 1995, by promoting the ideals he championed: international leadership development, public dialogue and tolerance. The center, which was dedicated in 2005, features a museum with interactive exhibits that explore the development of contemporary Israeli society and Rabin’s career as a soldier and statesman.

Rabin’s son, Yuval, said his father would have been proud that the first Yitzhak Rabin Education Leadership Award was being presented to the president of the AFT. “My father understood that for Israel to be strong and secure, it has to depend on an educated citizenry,” he said. “Like my father, Ed has devoted his life to making education a national priority.”

McElroy spoke of Yitzhak Rabin’s close association with the Israeli labor movement and praised Rabin’s efforts to reach out to the Palestinian community and to emphasize the need for reconciliation among Israel’s many ethnic groups.

Rabin and Feldman shared a commitment to fighting for democratic values, McElroy noted. Both understood that to exist and thrive, a democracy needs to ensure equality of opportunity, “including access to a quality education that puts every child on an equal footing.”

Also at the dinner, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.); Morton Bahr, president emeritus of the Communications Workers of America; and AFL-CIO president John Sweeney offered their congratulations to the AFT president. McElroy “lives by the same values as Yitzhak Rabin ... the idealism and toughness ... the vision of social justice and the devotion to settling differences between adversaries,” Sweeney said.

The dinner was co-chaired by AFT executive vice president Antonia Cortese; AFT vice presidents Ted Kirsch, president of AFT Pennsylvania, and Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers; and AFT secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour, who also served as master of ceremonies. Other AFT vice presidents and leaders also attended the dinner.