Teachers' Unions Take Own Path on Election
AFT backs Clinton early, while NEA is mostly content to wait.
The National Education Association is ready to spend $40 million this election year. But it isn’t ready to endorse a candidate for president.
The American Federation Teachers, by contrast, is working aggressively for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who represents the home state of more than a third of the union’s 1.3 million members. The union isn’t united, though: Its Illinois affiliate and the Chicago local are recruiting volunteers for their state’s favorite son, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Clinton’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination.
Meanwhile, the 3.2 million-member NEA’s state affiliates are making their own decisions. Some are endorsing candidates, including the Illinois Education Association-NEA, which is backing Sen. Obama. Several affiliates have remained neutral but seen their leaders make personal...
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