The new United Federation of Teachers’ president Michael Mulgrew was voted into office with 91 percent of the vote. (Mulgrew has been in office since his predecessor Randi Weingarten took over the parent AFT, but only as interim prez.) This landslide victory, however, masks an interesting reality: That Mulgrew was voted into office by everyone but the classroom teachers he’s supposed to represent. Confused? We’ll explain. First, overall turnout was just 32 percent, so lots of union members didn’t vote at all. And of that 32 percent, non-classroom teachers outnumbered their classroom counterparts two-to-one. In other words, active union members—classroom teachers—had just a 24 percent participation rate, while 47 percent of the union’s retirees cast their ballots. Though in real numbers, the two groups came out roughly equal—40 percent of the vote—of their respective numbers, many more retirees made it to the polls. (“Functional” teachers, such as psychologists, nurses, and paraprofessionals made up the remainder.) If you’ve ever wondered why teachers’ unions spend so much time protecting pension plans, here’s your answer.
“And the UFT Election Envelope Please…,” by Anna Phillips, Gotham Schools, April 9, 2010
“Dysfunctional,” by Frederick M. Hess, National Review Online, April 14, 2010
“Blow by Blow: Preliminary UFT Election Returns—Updated,” Education Notes Online, April 10, 2010