Political activist fights for just wages and the American way

Kristina Schwarzkopf is a superwoman. By day, the mild-mannered paraprofessional works with emotionally disturbed stu­dents. After school and on weekends, she heads over to the union office and works wonders as political coordinator for the Toledo Federation of Teachers (TFT).

The AFT member likes meeting people from all walks of life, learning their stories and seeing how the issues they care about fit in with the mission of our union.

How good is she? Super.

Schwarzkopf's two biggest achieve­ments, she says, were helping elect Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland last fall and helping raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85 an hour.

Besides mobilizing her fellow mem­bers to knock on doors, write postcards and host debate parties, Schwarzkopf organized a 7 a.m. breakfast for can­didate Strickland so that teachers and paras could come before school. TFT also came to the rescue when Ohio's candidates for the U.S. Senate, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Mike DeWine, found themselves without a room the day before their debate. Schwarzkopf arranged for them to use the union hall.

She's so good that for the past two political seasons, Schwarzkopf has been released from school between May and November to head up her local's campaign. Last fall, Toledo's members worked hard gathering enough signa­tures to put the minimum wage on the state ballot. She laughs. "I spent many days on street corners asking people for signatures," she says. "We qualified two counties. They were 'red' counties and we helped them become 'blue' counties."

In fact, Schwarzkopf is so good that local president Francine Lawrence can't praise her enough.

"Kris would be a golden find for any union leader;' Lawrence says, admiring her work ethic and offering this story. Once, when labor activists and their al­lies split into different camps, "Kris was able to navigate the factions to advance the candidates we supported. She kept positive relationships with everybody—that takes quite a lot of diplomacy—and I didn't get any complaints. How about that?"

Schwarzkopf deflects the praise but can't deny her record, which started at her father's knee.

"When I was a little girl, my father was always very involved in politics" she says. "He never ran for office, but he was always there, standing on a street corner, and I was there with him. I got to meet JFK."

The paraprofessional wants to see her district offer a middle school course on the history of unionism, so more young people will understand why political action is so important and why we must not lose our hard-won access to educa­tion, healthcare and pensions.

"We need to always keep the politi­cians where we can see them," she says. "They're the ones making the mandates and giving the money. We have to let the kids see that."

When the union started racking up election victories last November, Schwarzkopf felt her father's presence. "It was just like my dad had tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'That's it."