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Randi Weingarten

Making a Difference

Editors’ Note

Before assuming the role of President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in 1998, Randi Weingarten served as counsel for the UFT from 1986 to 1998, taking a lead role in contract negotiations and enforcement, and in lawsuits in which the union fought for adequate school funding and building conditions. She is also the Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers and of the New York City Central Labor Council, and she heads the city’s Municipal Labor Committee. Weingarten has degrees from Cornell University and the Cardozo School of Law, and is an active member of the Democratic National Committee and other professional, civic, and philanthropic organizations.

organization Brief

The UFT (www.uft.org) is the sole bargaining agent for most of the nonsupervisory educators who work in the New York City public schools. The UFT negotiates for fair and competitive salaries, enhanced professionalism, and improved working conditions for more than 200,000 people, including 74,000 teachers, 17,000 classroom paraprofessionals, 32,000 retired members, and many others. In October 2007, the UFT organized 28,000 family day care workers. Each year the union awards more than $1 million in scholarships to needy high school students, and its nationally acclaimed Dial-A-Teacher program offers homework assistance to more than 80,000 public school students and parents every year. The UFT’s central headquarters is located in Manhattan, and UFT offices are located in each of the five boroughs.

Can you provide an overview of the key mission of the UFT and the role and function the union provides?

We want every public school to be one where parents want to send their children and educators want to work. Our mission is to help teachers and to promote the educational opportunities of the kids we serve. We want to ensure that the educators who serve our kids have the economic security, professional respect, and tools they need to do their jobs. More broadly, we fight for working families to have economic security, fairness, and justice. We use the democratic and negotiation processes to achieve these goals.

Many business leaders are saying the public education system is not working. Do you feel an effective dialogue is going on about the key issues?

The fact that business leaders are engaging in the debate is terrific, but in order for the dialogue to be effective and productive, they need to have a real understanding of what the issues are in education. Our job as educators is to help all kids. Our job is to help kids not simply dream their dreams but to achieve them. Our job is to help kids not only become proficient in math and literacy skills but to become well-rounded individuals. Americans believe in universal access to education – that’s what public education is about. Where we fall is in universal attainment. Businesses first got involved in this debate because they were motivated by the need to have a competent workforce, but they missed the fact that you just can’t create a niche market in public education. Once they realized that that wasn’t going to happen, many said, “Oh, we’ll privatize it,” or “Oh, we’ll voucherize it,” or “Oh, we’ll charterize it.” That’s not going to achieve universal access and universal attainment. That’s why this is so hard. So I love that they are involved in the debate, but they don’t always understand that this is about helping all kids, regardless of their circumstances. Education is about the connection between teachers and kids, and we have to make sure that the connection is as meaningful, productive, and wonderful as possible.

Are you attracting top talent to this profession? Do young people understand what they can achieve in this sector?

We’re doing a lot better, because the salaries are higher. Nobody goes into teaching to be rich, but we must have a living wage. There should be a social contract in this country that says, if you go into the civil service – teaching, law enforcement, etc. – and you want to work hard and perform crucial civic functions for America, then we will ensure that you can provide for your families. That means providing a decent middle-class income. The UFT has negotiated three contracts that raised salaries 43 percent. I believe this single-handedly changed the situation from our having 17 percent of the teachers uncertified to less than 1 percent of the workforce uncertified. So money matters a lot in terms of both recruitment and retention. We need to make sure that teachers have a meaningful, middle-class income so they can provide for their families, live in the city, and provide for themselves in retirement.

You have been very focused on reducing class size in all grades. Has that come along the way you wanted?

I give the Governor, the legislature, and now the New York State Education Department a great deal of credit. After months of negotiation, they got the city to put forward a plan that will ultimately reduce the average class size in kindergarten through 3rd grade to 20 and the average class size in 4th grade through 12th grade to 23. That’s a great step, because it means that in New York State, the public policy debate is over. It’s no longer a matter of whether to reduce class size; it’s a question of how. Teachers need lower class sizes, because they need to reach kids and create a thoughtful education program in their classroom. How can teachers do that when they have 34 kids in a class? I taught at Clara Barton High School, and when I had a full schedule, I taught more than 150 students a day. There’s a great difference between 34 and 20, and that’s what we need to get to.

You’ve been President of the UFT for almost 10 years. What has made you want to continue your efforts?

The teachers’ union presidency is an amazing position and I am grateful and humbled that my members have elected me to do this. The union and the position provide a platform for reaching out to the community, building alliances, working with people to champion the causes that help kids get a great education, and helping teachers achieve the economic stability they need.

Interview by David Schner