A candidate who shares our priorities
 
Imagine the impact the AFT could have with a partner who is equally committed to putting in place reforms that truly help schools raise student achievement.

By Edward J. McElroy
AFT President

"I am committed to improving and strengthening our public schools, providing support for our teachers, and ensuring our education system is able to meet the needs of the global economy and that we have commonsense laws that make that possible. ... I will keep seeking you out and working in partnership with you to do what's best for our children, best for our educators and best for the future of our country."
-HILLARY CLINTON
From a statement thanking the AFT for its support of her candidacy in the Democratic primary for president

 When was the last time you felt that the president of the United States truly understood the challenges facing educators and genuinely wanted to work with them to strengthen public education? If you are like the vast majority of AFT members who weighed in on our union's presidential endorsement process, it's been a long while.

But our wait may be almost over. The AFT executive council has endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary for president, and AFT support could make a decisive difference in the next presidential election.

The AFT engaged in an extensive and deliberative process designed to solicit from our members their issues of concern and the candidate they believed would best address those concerns. In meetings, polls and on "You Decide 2008," the AFT's Web site section for member input on the presidential election, AFT members expressed overwhelming support for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Not surprisingly, given the field of highly qualified presidential candidates, AFT members had favorable opinions of a number of candidates. But in numer-ous forums-including "You Decide 2008," which received more than 50,000 individual visits-the vast majority of AFT members said that Clinton was the "best of the best."

Hillary Clinton has a 100 percent AFT voting record for the entire time she has served in the United States Senate. She has supported public schools by voting to provide adequate funding for such vital programs as Title I and special education, and by rejecting the false hope of vouchers. She has defended workers' rights through her votes to extend collective bargaining, increase the minimum wage and protect overtime pay. And she has used her position to op-pose threats to Social Security and Medicare, as well as reckless tax cuts that hamper investment in key domestic priorities and burden future generations with huge federal deficits.

Hillary Clinton is a leader the AFT can and does work with. As first lady, United States senator, and as a private citizen, she has reached out to the AFT to advance our common priorities. Clinton came to the AFT executive council to personally thank the AFT for supporting her candidacy, and the following day she participated in a meeting-via the Internet and telephone-with AFT state federation leaders. She satisfied participants with sound and reasoned responses to tough questions about the economy, the war in Iraq, increasing access to higher education and the No Child Left Behind Act.

Clinton cited numerous problems with NCLB, including a provision in the bill expected to come up for reauthorization that mandates the use of standardized test scores to determine a portion of a teacher's salary. She said this provision "interferes with collective bargaining rights at the local level ... and there is no evidence it works." Clinton noted that her preference would be to have NCLB reauthorized with a Democrat in the White House, adding that "teachers need to be at the table" and emphasizing that our close relationship would continue during a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Imagine the impact the AFT could have with a partner who is equally committed to putting in place reforms that truly help schools raise student achievement; to increasing access to higher education; to providing high-quality healthcare for all; and to enacting economic policies that help-not hurt-low- and middle-income families.

In the coming months, the AFT will work to inform our members about the issues at the center of this election-and why Hillary Clinton has earned our support. We want to continue to hear from members like you. Visit the AFT's "Campaign '08" site (www.aft.org/campaign08) for updates, opportunities to weigh in on this process, and ways you can get involved.

I hope you will join us as we work to elect a candidate who will bring our shared priorities to the presidency.