Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president:

Acting on behalf of its more than 1.4 million members, the AFT executive council on Wednesday endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, citing her proven ability to advance our nation's key priorities, and her bold plans for a stronger America.

"Our members have told us that they want a leader they can trust to strengthen public education, increase access to health care, promote commonsense economic priorities and secure America's place in the world," said AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "Hillary Clinton is that leader."

Chris Bowers at Open Left calls it, "the biggest endorsement of the campaign for me so far."

I know AFT people, both the teachers and the organizers. They are friends, family and colleagues. They are smart, extremely hard working, and also very progressive. I trust the decisions they make. If they decide to endorse Hillary Clinton, that means a lot to me . . . The AFT endorsement of Hillary Clinton improves my image of Hillary Clinton.

Here's coverage from TPM Election Central:

The drumbeat of good Hillary news just isn't stopping today: The latest is that she's picking up the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers.

Garance Franke-Ruta at Tapped offers this analysis:

The move was long expected for three reasons: Clinton's historic commitment to and advocacy work around the education of children have given her deep relationships in the education community; the largest AFT affiliate is based in New York; and more than three-fourths of teachers are female.

Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic reports, "a union source says the vote for Hillary was 'overwhelming.'"

Liz Benjamin at Daily Politics looks at the timing:

The New York contingent, which is the largest state organization in the AFT, lobbied hard on the part of its "favorite daughter" - a status the union conferred on Clinton back in April - while Illinois, the second-largest, did the same on behalf of its designated "favorite son," Barack Obama.

The argument, Ianuzzi said, was less about whether Clinton should be the AFT's candidate, since 45 percent of the union's likely voters favor her, according to a poll conducted by Peter Hart Associates (Obama got 21, John Edwards received 13), and more about whether it would be more appropriate to delay the endorsement altogether to see if some other frontrunner emerges.

The Council isn't scheduled to meet again until February, Ianuzzi noted, by which point, at the rate things are going, the Democratic nomination contest could be good and over.

Additional coverage rounded up at Edwize.



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Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 0)

More on the process here and here.


by SteveUFT on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:30:36 PM EST

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 1)

My family is full of teachers.  I don't think any of them are going to be happy about this.  One of my good friends who is a teacher is for Obama, kind of.  She is not very political but kind of buys in to the Hillary is a bitch nonsense.
I think it is a very understandable endorsement.  First, women dominate the profession, Hillary has major support from liberal women who know she is good strong supporter of women's and children's issues and education.  It really is almost a no-brainer that they would support her,
I wonder what NEA will do.

ABO... Anybody but Obama. I LIKE the democratic party.

by MollieBradford on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:45:55 PM EST

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (none / 0)

This is almost a week old, and was diaried extensively when it actually happened.


I don't care who's the nominee. I'm voting Democratic.
by JWR on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:48:20 PM EST

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (none / 0)

Care to point to these extensive diaries? I couldn't find them, but am happy to be proven wrong.


by SteveUFT on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:58:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 2)

it was diaried here - but always good to have reminders.


vote blue in 2008
by sepulvedaj3 on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 04:09:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 1)

Here.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/10/3/1353 30/581#commenttop


"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety". Salvor Hardin
by Denny Crane on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 04:18:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 1)

I was in Philly getting an MRI for three days and missed them.  I was not aware of this, unless I have forgotten which is possible because I was under a lot of stress at the time.


ABO... Anybody but Obama. I LIKE the democratic party.

by MollieBradford on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 06:35:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

that's one (none / 0)

I focused more on the reaction, which I think is new and interesting.

But it goes without saying that you're free to disagree.


by SteveUFT on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 04:27:26 PM EST

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (none / 0)

You think they went with Hillary because Obama wants to support merit pay and the teachers unions are against it?


by Pravin on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 07:03:55 PM EST

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (none / 0)

Unions are against merit pay in my state. It's decided on by the legislature. There have actually been teachers who refuse to accept the merit pay, myself included. Obama stated that collective bargaining could work out the kinks of merit pay (bonuses.) I don't know how he could do accomplish this feat in Florida, but I'll give him credit for wording the merit page issue thoughtfully.

He gets it about the reliability and validity of the criterion based tests that are used to grade students, teachers and schools in my state. I would have been clapping and cheering too.

I belong to a local union that's affiliated with the NEA. I won't be surprised if they support Hillary. She has a great record with respect to education. I like the specifics of Obama's plan and look forward to hearing the specifics of Hillary's plan.

the speech:
http://mefeedia.com/entry/3698212/


Dare to be free.
by misscee on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 08:14:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (none / 0)

May I ask why unions do not offer their own proposal for merit pay standards if they do not like the proposals out there? And what is the union's suggestions for weeding out incompetent teachers?


by Pravin on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 09:40:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Because teaching is collaborative (none / 0)

and individual merit pay is not. Individual merit pay encourages teachers to work against each other instead of working together.


by SteveUFT on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 11:43:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Because teaching is collaborative (none / 0)

Being on project teams in corporations can be collaborative. There is still room for merit pay.


by Pravin on Wed Oct 10, 2007 at 05:29:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teachers Union Endorses Hillary Clinton (2.00 / 1)

This is such an amazing endorsement, thanks for the diary.


by reasonwarrior on Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 09:07:41 PM EST


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