AFT mourns Sandra Feldman
A leader without comparison

Former AFT president Sandra Feldman, a lifelong advocate and activist for civil and trade union rights, died Sept. 18 at her home in New York City after a three-year battle with breast cancer. She was 65.

“Sandy’s death is a great loss for the AFT personally and professionally, and for the children of our nation,” says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. “She was a leader without comparison and will be remembered for her vigorous commitment to better the lives of union members she represented and those they served, especially children. Presidents, members of Congress, educators and business leaders relied on her expertise and ideas to help forge their own opinions on how to help those who needed it most.”

Enduring legacy
When Feldman was elected AFT president in 1997 after the death of Albert Shanker, she became the first female to lead the union since the 1930s. Among her key initiatives as AFT president was a call for universal access to preschool, which she championed at the AFT’s QuEST conference in 2001. A year later at the union’s 2002 convention, she outlined the first step toward achieving this, urging Congress to provide funding for a “Kindergarten-Plus” initiative that would help schools offer an extended year of kindergarten for disadvantaged youngsters to help close the achievement gap.

Feldman also made higher education a top priority in her stewardship of the AFT. “Sandy was a true friend to higher education and we will miss her,” says AFT vice president William E. Scheuerman. “In a time when so many are trying to make higher education just a hoop you need to jump through to get a credential or start a career, Sandy understood the value of a strong liberal arts education and the need to educate the ‘whole’ person, as she liked to say,” notes Scheuerman, president of the United University Professions.

Former University Professionals of Illinois president Mitch Vogel remembers her as a staunch advocate for her beliefs when he worked with her on teacher education policy. She called him before a contentious discussion at an AFT executive council meeting, he remembers, and then called him a few days later with responses to his objections. “That’s what differentiated her from others. As soon as we finished the argument, we started negotiating the agreement. She was able to get things done because she did have an open mind, could listen to others and find ways of coming up with the best solution.” 

A stronger AFT
A strong and growing professional union also will be part of the Feldman legacy. During her tenure as president, the AFT passed the million-member mark and grew by more than 365,000 new members, or 38.6 percent—the largest growth in a seven-year period in the union’s history. AFT Higher Education nearly doubled, to 150,000. It didn’t happen by accident. Under Feldman, the AFT adopted initiatives to foster a “culture of organizing” within the union. As AFT president, she also served on the AFL-CIO’s executive council, chairing the AFL-CIO’s Committee on Social Policy.

A strong proponent of civic education and democracy in the international arena, Feldman served as a vice president of Education International. She frequently spoke out on human rights issues abroad, condemning terrorism and repression of human and worker rights around the world—from China to Colombia, from the Soviet Union to Sudan.

AFT Washington president and AFT vice president Sandra Schroeder traveled with Feldman to Germany in 2003 for an Education International meeting. Feldman met with German teachers who were unhappy with the U.S.  military action on Iraq. “Her ability to find common ground for dialogue, to defuse the tension, impressed me,” says Schroeder. “She inspired me as a woman and as a leader to keep fighting for the things we believe in.”

In 2004, Feldman decided for health reasons not to run for re-election as AFT president and stepped down at the union’s convention that year. She was named AFT president emeritus and continued to serve on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Child Labor Coalition, the Albert Shanker Institute, the Council on Competitiveness, the International Rescue Committee and Freedom House.

A commitment to social justice
Born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn and educated in New York City’s public schools, including James Madison High School and Brooklyn College, Feldman’s working-class roots shaped her lifelong commitment to expanding educational opportunities, serving disadvantaged youngsters and fighting for more resources in urban schools. Her longstanding commitment to social justice dates back to her involvement with Bayard Rustin and the early civil rights movement, both in New York and nationally, when she was arrested during the Freedom Rides and other protests in the 1960s.

A former teacher and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) chapter leader at Public School 34 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in 1983, Feldman was elected UFT secretary, the union’s second highest office, and was elected president in 1986, succeeding her longtime mentor and friend Albert Shanker.

During her 11 years as UFT president, Feldman forged an image as a tough and frank advocate for New York City’s schools. She had no problem going toe-to-toe with mayors, governors and members of Congress on behalf of the city’s educators and schoolchildren. “She was the first education union leader I ever heard say, ‘We’re not interested in protecting folks that are incompetent,’” says Derryn Moten, co-president of the Alabama State University Faculty-Staff Alliance. “I thought, she’s not going to allow the AFT to be used as a shield for anyone who does not deserve to be in the profession.”

“She was a giant in terms of her force within the labor movement,” says Lou Stollar, longtime president of the Union of College Employees at the Fashion Institute of Technology. “But more than that, she was a decent human being, a friend, a wonderful person. We thought Al would be hard to replace, but she stepped into his shoes without missing a beat.”

Feldman was remembered by AFT secretary-treasurer Nat LaCour as an “outstanding” union-ist and leader who was “truly respected by all the people she came in contact with, both nationally and internationally.” Union executive vice president Antonia Cortese, who first met Feldman in 1971 during the New York merger of the AFT and NEA, praised Feldman’s commitment and optimism, her belief in public service and “her love for the UFT and AFT.”

Feldman is survived by her husband, Arthur Barnes; a brother, Larry Abramowitz of New York City; a sister, Helen Berliner of Wylie, Texas; two stepchildren and two grandchildren.