Teachers United

Dennis Gaffney

Description

This book tells the story of the rise of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), New York State's largest union. Using first-hand accounts by rank-and-file teachers as well as leaders, Dennis Gaffney documents how teachers, once underpaid and hopelessly divided, finally organized, lifting themselves from the underclass to the middle class to become a formidable grassroots political force able to defeat and elect U.S. senators. He describes how New York's teachers sparked the modern-day teachers' movement, and what key lessons other labor unions can learn from NYSUT's unity and success. Teachers United also shows how NYSUT has been a leader of educational reform, winning more money for education, creating smaller classes, raising academic standards, and training better teachers.
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part I. Beginnings

1. Radical Roots: The Rise of the United Federation of Teachers
2. Teacher Militancy in the 1960s
3. Entering the Political Fray: The Jerabek Attack

Part II. Growing Up: The Merger

4. Planting the Seeds of Unity
5. Merger Negotiations Begin
6. The Concord Convention: From Two Enemies, One Union
7. A National Merger?
8. Coming Apart

Part III. Maturity

9. Wielding Political Power
10. Educational Reform
11. International Solidarity

Conclusion
Appendix

Teacher Groups and Their Acronyms
NYSUT Officers, 2006
Former NYSUT Officers
NYSUT Board of Directors, 1973–2005

Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• History of education
• Region
• 20th century
• History of the Americas
• Regional
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791479599
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

TEACHERS UNITED THE RISE OF NEW YORK STATE UNITED TEACHERS

DENNIS GAFFNEY

Teachers United

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Teachers United

The Rise of New York State United Teachers

Dennis Gaffney

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press Albany

© 2007 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 122102384

Production, Susan Geraghty Marketing, Fran Keneston

Except for quotes taken from secondary sources, any writing in direct quotes was recorded by me and was edited as little as possible for clarity and gram mar. In cases where people recalled conversations to me, the text was para phrased, and it appears in dialogue form without quotations. All the photos used in this book were provided by NYSUT, except those that were gracious ly provided by Lynn Costello, Frances Brown, and Bob Allen.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Gaffney, Dennis, 1959– Teachers united : the rise of New York State united teachers / Dennis Gaffney. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9780791471913 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Teachers’ unions—New York (State)—New York. 2. Teachers—New York (State)— New York. I. Title.

LB2844.53.U62N74 2007 331.881'13711009747—dc22

10

 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2006032874

For my parents, Walter and Anne Gaffney, and my brother Walter, all teachers.

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Acknowledgments

Introduction

C O N T E N T S

PART I. BEGINNINGS

1 Radical Roots: The Rise of the United Federation of Teachers

2 Teacher Militancy in the 1960s

3 Entering the Political Fray: The Jerabek Attack

PART II. GROWING UP: THE MERGER

4 Planting the Seeds of Unity

5 Merger Negotiations Begin

6 The Concord Convention: From Two Enemies, One Union

7 A National Merger?

8 Coming Apart

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C ONTENTS

PART III. MATURITY

9 Wielding Political Power

10 Educational Reform

11 International Solidarity

Conclusion

Appendix Teacher Groups and Their Acronyms NYSUT Officers, 2006 Former NYSUT Officers NYSUT Board of Directors, 1973–2005

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

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A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I imagine that writing a book is akin to taking an around-the-world trip on a sailing ship: the obstacles are formidable, the trip takes longer than expected, and you can’t complete the journey without a competent crew. I wouldn’t trade my crew for any other. I’d like to begin by recognizing those who began this project prior to my involvement, including Tom Hobart Jr., who has diligently pur- sued the gathering of NYSUT’s history for nearly two decades. I’d also like to thank Dorothy Fennell, who produced an oral history of NYSUT that created a treasure trove that I visited repeatedly. I’d also like to recognize Claudia Shacter-deChabert, whose thesis paper, “A History of the New York State United Teachers: The Merger Story,” provided a rich map and resource for the middle chapters of this book. I am grateful, too, for the librarians who guided me in my primary research, especially Thomas Dickson, Assistant Archivist at the Archives & Records Center at the United Federation of Teachers; Richard Strassberg and Patrizia Sione at the Kheel Center for Labor- Management Documentation and Archives, part of the Catherwood Library at Cornell University, where NYSUT’s historical records are stored; and Dan Golodner, AFT Archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. I want to give special thanks to Joan Cassidy, NYSUT’s research librarian, who often pointed me to essential resources before I knew I needed them. I couldn’t have had a more competent librarian as my guide. She was my de facto personal research assistant, and she never made me feel that I was a nuisance, although I’m sure I was. I was also lucky to have Bob Carillo as my point person at NYSUT, who was always friendly, capable, and efficient in steering this book to port. The union is lucky to have him—and so was I. Tony Bifaro also stepped in at key times to keep the ship on course. And for all they did to make the sailing smooth, thanks to so many who were helpful at NYSUT, including Betsy Sandberg, Ian Hughes, Maureen Casey, Brian O’Shaughnessy, Ben Frisbie, Joan Nauman, Ellen Haskell, Paula Boughtwood, and Kathleen Graham.

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