United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten asked. NYSUT delivered.

Taking the podium at the NYSUT delegate breakfast on the opening day of the American Federation of Teachers convention in Chicago, the candidate to be next president of the AFT mentioned to the hundreds of NYSUT members that she'd been to six different state delegate breakfasts already and hadn't had time for a cup of coffee. Within minutes delegates delivered cups and pots and cream and sugar right to the podium.

She said that's why she loves New Yorkers, but she will need them to do more.

"The only reason I'm able to do this (run for AFT president) is because of what we've done in New York," she said. When the greatest union and public education state in the country is dealing with the very real possibility of a property tax cap, unthinkable not long ago, it's a dangerous time.

"The institutions we've taken for granted over the past 30 years are at risk," she said.

As the next president of the AFT, "I need you to make the commitment that you're going to do for the nation what we have done in the great state of New York. ... We need to show the nation what we've done at NYSUT."

NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi told the delegates they are in for "an exciting convention and an historical convention. ... That's where we are in the labor movement, and that's where we want to be."

AFT Executive Vice President Antonia Cortese, NYSUT's own, also sounded the call to be unified in these difficult times for labor and education.

"We need to be very strong at this time," she said. "We're the engine that drives the system, not the caboose, and we're not going to be treated that way," she said. Cortese is running for AFT secretary-treasurer.

The delegates paid tribute to Nat LaCour, retiring AFT secretary-treasurer, who confessed to a deep affection for New York because of the help the cofounder of the United Teachers of New Orleans received from Al Shanker in the early days of that storied southern union.

NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin reported the "good news and bad news" out of the recently concluded state Legislative Session. The good news included $1.8 billion in new school aide, long-sought restrictions on mandatory overtime for nurses, higher education pay bills and permanent agency fee.

The bad news is that Gov. Paterson is pushing a property tax cap and it is a very real threat, Lubin said.

"We have to stay on top of this," he said. "Tax caps will destroy our public schools - they haven't worked anywhere."

Iannuzzi briefly introduced an exciting project in which NYSUT is working with the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation to create lesson plans and classroom materials to cover the social justice agenda of the late senator from New York. He said the work - "a labor of love" - is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination and the planned renaming of the Triborough Bridge in honor of the man.