The next generation
A new crop of teachers is coming into the classroom.
Here's how the union is reaching out to make them welcome.

Want to know the secret to designing programs that reach out to new educators, programs that encourage them to join their local unions? AFT leaders around the country will tell you it takes a good pair of ears.

Unions that really listen to new educators and shape programs around their backgrounds, their concerns and their needs have the battle half-won, says Greg Jones of the United Educators of Wichita. The union, an affiliate of both the AFT and the NEA, has made liberal use of focus groups and surveys to understand the attitudes of new members. That feedback revealed that new educators are not interested in beginning their careers with confrontations. "They like the superintendent--he just hired them," Jones explains. "For them, the major thing is to emphasize professional development--making them better teachers." The local's offerings for new members now include new teacher workshops, luncheons and help in getting needed instructional materials for the new school year.

The AFT's local in Dade County, Fla., also has taken a cue from young educators. In designing programs that appeal to younger practitioners, the union has relied heavily on its Young Educator's Committee, an advisory panel of teachers, paraprofessionals and other school staff in the district. Among the initiatives that the YEC has helped shape are a hugely successful rookie teacher of the year dinner and a union-sponsored scholarship program for continuing education, says Jennifer LaMont, who coordinates YEC.

The committee also has taken the lead in designing a day-long professional development program that helps new UTD members get set up for the first few days of school. UTD also offers a day-long follow-up program in the fall called "Been There, Done That," tailored to teachers with fewer than five years' experience.

The local also offers a volunteer peers-helping-peers program, which pairs new educators with veterans.

The United Federation of Teachers in New York City is harnessing new technology to reach out to new members. Telescript equipment, which allows volunteers to automatically dial numbers from a list of names and record their responses, has long been used in the union's political action efforts. Now, the equipment is being used to reach out to new members through a personal phone call, explains Claire Cohen of the UFT.

Additionally, the equipment can record and sort questions and concerns expressed by new members for follow up by union staff. "The number of people who are thrilled to get a call from the union and follow-up to their questions is just unbelievable," Cohen says. The union also uses a young educators committee to guide the local's comprehensive list of outreach efforts.

Cutting-edge technology also has put its stamp on a new member kit recently launched by the Illinois Federation of Teachers and its affiliates. The "Focusing on our Future" package, which is distributed through state affiliates, includes a new CD-ROM, along with printed materials and calendars for new members. Many surveys conducted by the AFT and its affiliates show that union benefits and professional development are key areas of interest for new members, says Amy Gran of the IFT communications department. The CD reflects those concerns "with a message that we are here to help you," Gran says.

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