Tuesday
March 11, 2008
Guest blogger Jennifer Adams wonders where the union’s priorities are in this election:
When I received my copy of March’s American Teacher magazine, the publication of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), I read the article “Hillary Clinton: On the Economy and Union Rights” [pdf] to find out why the union endorsed Senator Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. I was shocked to see no discussion of education in their list of issues. The issues that the article discussed were economic fairness (tax cuts and minimum wage), union and workplace rights and prosperity for all (economic stimulus package, healthcare, and domestic energy policy).
I understand the AFT’s connection and alliance with unions in other fields, but it is also one of the two largest groups of teachers in the country. To completely leave out education as an issue further shows the importance that the education of children has on the union’s agenda.
My local union, the Chicago Teacher’s Union, often cites a lack of interest in the union from young teachers as one of its concerns, but as a fifth year teacher who does believe in the strength and power of unions, I can understand why some teachers would not want to stand strong with an organization that does not even bring education up as an issue when endorsing a presidential candidate.
It is my opinion that the union should be bringing education to the forefront of the presidential campaign. In particular, they should be asking how NCLB will be properly funded.
Would you like to write a guest blog post? Email Sarah [weisz@goldenapple.org] for more details.
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