THE 80TH CONVENTION of the American Federation of Teachers was held July 10-14 in the birthplace of the national union—Chicago. More than 3,500 delegates attended the gathering, which included the election of new officers, the retirement of two longtime AFT leaders, and the celebration of recent organizing successes and impressive growth. Convention delegates also adopted policy resolutions and ap-proved a special order of business endorsing Barack Obama in his historic run for president of the United States.

New AFT president vows to build on union's great traditions

A HIGHLIGHT of the convention was the election of a new slate of national officers. On July 13, delegates elected Randi Weingarten president, and Antonia Cortese and Lorretta Johnson were elected secretary-treasurer and executive vice president, respectively.

Weingarten has served 10 years as president of the 200,000-member United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in New York City, the largest union local in the country.

In her first address as AFT president, Weingarten promised to fight for a national reform agenda that protects and improves the institutions where AFT members work, while bettering the lives and prospects of those they serve-particularly children and those in need.

She picked up on the common theme in this election year: Change. "The society that we serve, the institutions where we work and the workforce that we represent all are changing at speeds we never envisioned," Weingarten said. "Yet the AFT has always been about making change work."

The new AFT president introduced her parents and told delegates about her roots: Raised in Rockland County, N.Y., she is the daughter of a teacher and trade unionist-turned-electrical engineer. Her views on teaching and trade unionism were sharpened while witnessing her mother's union go through a seven-week strike. From this experience, Weingarten said, she came to understand that "while teaching will never get you a penthouse, it shouldn't put you in the poorhouse."

The AFT president delivered fighting words to those who would demonize public employees: "We have often been called a 'special interest.' I will never apologize for that because our 'special interests' are the students we teach, the patients we care for and all the people we serve."

Weingarten challenged her colleagues to proudly present a new vision for America to those who say public service workers are part of this country's problems: "We need to put forth the simple but powerful truth that, far from being the problem, a progressive and innovative union like the AFT is part of the solution."

Efforts to reform government, education or healthcare "will be doomed to failure unless they are built on a foundation of respect for the professionals who do the work," she said. "So we say to public officials and administrators: If you're searching for partners to improve public institutions-the union is the solution. We say to parents and taxpayers: If you want better public schools, better colleges, better hospitals and better state governments—the union is the solution. And, most of all, we say to all those who serve the public: If you want the dignity you deserve, the security you demand and the quality you dream of—the union is the solution."

Weingarten also called for a broader role for community schools, putting them at the heart of improving the lives of children and their families. These schools bring together a full range of services and resources from before- and after-school activities to medical clinics, from GED programs to providing legal assistance.

Turning to the importance of electing a U.S. president who shares our vision and values, Weingarten said that "Sen. Obama will make history not only because of who he is, but because of where he will lead America."

AFT secretary-treasurer Antonia Cortese and executive vice president Lorretta Johnson join Weingarten at the helm of the national union.

Cortese was first vice president of the now 600,000-member New York State United Teachers before coming to the AFT in 2004. She began her education career in Rome, N.Y., where she taught fourth grade and served as a school social worker.

She has served for the past four years as AFT executive vice president. "I am so proud to have been a member of the AFT, a vice president of the AFT and an officer of the AFT," Cortese told convention delegates.

Lorretta Johnson began her career as a teacher's aide in the Baltimore City Public School System, where she organized a union to improve the work situation of paraprofessionals like herself, and she subsequently has become a leading voice for working families throughout the state of Maryland.

Johnson, a longtime AFT vice president who is president of AFT-Maryland, and of the Baltimore Teachers Union's paraprofessional chapter, promised to "work hard to push the policies and programs of the AFT."