American Federation of Teachers

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American Federation of Teachers
Website	www.aft.org
Founded	1916
Headquarters	Washington , DC United States

A brief overview of your interest group (be sure to put its name in bold in the first sentence) and the scope of the article goes here.

The following list of sections should serve as a loose guideline for developing the body of your article. The works cited in references 2-5 are all fake; their purpose is to serve as a formatting model for your own citations.

History

In 1939 there were allegations of communist infiltration in some locals members but in 1941, charters of three locals were withdrawn after an investigation and recommendation by the AFT executive council. After World War II the AFT would rally for a cause; war bonds, war relief and air-raid programs were part of daily life for most members. After the war there were many strikes from the teachers asking for better working conditions and better salaries.

In 1948, the union became more active with the civil rights movement. It had stopped chartering segregated locals and filed an amicus brief in the historic 1954 Supreme Court desegregation case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. Then in 1957, the AFT expelled all the locals that refused to desegregate. In the 1960s it held voter registration drives in the South.

In November of 1960 there was a one-day walkout of the United Federation of Teachers of New York City. The events in New York City would have 300 teacher strikes throughout the country, and the national AFT would grow from 60,000 members in 1960 to more than 200,000 by 1970. Two years later the UFT would win their first comprehensive teacher contract in the country, the 1960s would also be the first major strike by university professors in the United States.

The 1970s would be an area to fight tuition tax credits, and trying to restore funds for urban schools. During the 1970s, the AFT became more involved with the AFL-CIO Public Employee Department, which represented the interests of state and local public employees within the federation. In 1977, the union also was active in the AFL-CIO's Department for Professional Employees, which elected then-AFT president Albert Shanker as their first president. Then in 1978, the AFT established a healthcare division and in 1983 created a division for local, state and federal employees. The AFT expanded to take on issues such as healthcare costs, privatization, state and local budget analysis, and more.

The 1980s brought about an international agenda. The AFT and the AFL-CIO provide support to the Polish Solidarity union movement that helped topple communism. The AFT provided training and technical support to any fledgling teacher unions in Eastern Europe. The AFT also sent help to black trade unions in South Africa and lent support to the Chilean teachers union. This support to Chile played a major role in ridding the Chile government of their dictator in 1988. Fifteen AFT members were on hand to monitor the first free and democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

Founding

In 1902, the Chicago Teachers' Federation became the first teacher group in the United States to join its local central labor body. Chicago teachers believed that they should be apart of the labor movement. On April 15, 1916 a group of teacher unions gathered at the City Club on Plymouth Court in Chicago. They meet in order to form a new national union: the American Federation of Teachers. The founders included teacher groups in Chicago and locals from Gary, Ind., New York City, Scranton, Pa., and Washington, D.C.

Current objectives and activities

This section should discuss the group's current initiatives and tactics for influencing political outcomes (which may or may not be very different from its original goals and modus operandi).

Organizational structure

The American Federation of Teachers has more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates, and more than 1.4 million members.

There are five divisions that are within the organization which represents the AFT's membership: teachers; school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff; and nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The AFT advocates sound, commonsense public education policies, including high academic and conduct standards for students and greater professionalism for teachers and school staff; excellence in public service through cooperative problem-solving and workplace innovations; and high-quality healthcare provided by qualified professionals.

The AFT elects officers that are to represent and govern the organization. They are elected at the union’s bicentennial convention which they also set union policy during this time. The AFT also hosts the Quality Educational Standards in Teaching conference, where professional issues are discussed and the meeting attracts around 3,000 educators from around the country. Current elected leaders are Randi Weingarten, president, Antonia Cortese, secretary-treasurer, Lorretta Johnson, executive vice president, and a 39-member executive council. Weingarten also serves as vice president of the AFL-CIO.

There have been many well-known Americans that have been an AFT member, some including John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Hubert Humphrey, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, former Senate Majority Leader and Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield, former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, and former United Nations Under Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche.

Achievements

This section should recount the group's major achievements, including but not limited to legislative and/or legal victories.

Public perception and controversies

In developing this final section, be especially careful about maintaining a neutral stance and tone. Your aim should be to document the public's perception of your group and/or any controversies in which it is or has been embroiled without weighing in with your own opinion about them.