(From USA TODAY, May 28, 2008)
By GREG TOPPO
Delegates to the American Federation of Teachers' biennial meeting here in July are expected to elect Randi Weingarten their new president, along with two other longtime AFT officials: Antonia Cortese and Lorretta Johnson as secretary-treasurer and executive vice president, respectively.
The three announced their candidacy last week at a small, private event for top union officials.
"It's powerful because these are three knowledgeable women," says Marietta English, president of the Baltimore Teachers Union. "This is the year for women. I'm excited."
With more than 1.4 million members, AFT is one of the largest unions in the USA and its second-largest teachers union, behind the National Education Association (NEA), which has more than 3 million members. Unlike its rival, AFT represents many big-city teachers and is a member of the AFL-CIO.
As president of the United Federation of Teachers, New York City's local union, Weingarten, 50, is probably better acquainted with big-city labor issues than anyone in the USA.
The trio will take over a union that is growing but also under siege, not just from political conservatives: Many liberal and centrist activists say big-city teacher contracts squelch innovation.
"The industry's changing," says Andy Rotherham of Education Sector, a think tank. "She's either going to be stuck in a position where she's in a downpour, arguing that it's not raining, or she can get her members some umbrellas."
Foremost among critics' complaints: Restrictive contracts make it hard for innovative principals to extend school days, fire poor teachers quickly, pay excellent teachers more and move them to schools where they're needed most.
"We're not seeing an anti-organized-labor movement — we're seeing a pro-flexibility movement," says Ted Mitchell, who heads the New Schools Venture Fund, a San Francisco-based philanthropic group that invests in public schools. He says concern with inflexible contracts "is very widespread."
Weingarten says she's not opposed to flexibility. "You can fire the bad teachers all you want if you have due process," she says, but too often solutions are pushed without consulting teachers. "People who don't know about kids are telling them what to do, and they're saying: 'Wait a minute. That doesn't work.' "
Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, a New York-based political action committee, calls Weingarten "very forward-thinking. What you see today may only be a small part of her vision for tomorrow."
Williams predicts that Weingarten, who would replace outgoing president Edward McElroy, could even revive the long-abandoned bid to merge the NEA and AFT. The resulting union would be the biggest in the USA, with about 4.5 million members.
"She could be a force in labor history," he says.