Highlights from 25 years of RAs

The highest authority in New York State United Teachers isn't the president, or the officers as a group, or even the union's board of directors. As NYSUT President Tom Hobart is fond of saying, "Our members are the guiding force in the union."

Each year, that force is given expression at the union's Representative Assembly. At this annual gathering, union delegates from across the state hear from their elected leaders, listen to speeches from notables in politics and education, and ultimately shape the union's policy and priorities for the year to come.

A look at past representative assemblies is a trip down memory lane, each RA in some way emblematic of its era:

The first RA

The first annual Representative Assembly, held in Montreal in March 1973, was a test of solidarity in more ways than one.

This RA was historic: It was the first gathering of a merged state organization in the nation. Just the year before, members of the New York State Teachers Association (NEA) and United Teachers of New York (AFT) had agreed to merge into what became known as NYSUT.

The ramifications of merger and teacher unity dominated debate, revealing strong support for the new organization, but also regional differences.

The biggest challenge at the convention didn't stem from delegates' disputes. The RA, originally scheduled to be held at The Concord in the Catskills, was shifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal when a strike closed the Kiamesha Lake facility.

NYSUT's first officers were elected, with Hobart as president; Al Shanker, executive vice president; Dan Sanders, first vice president; Antonia Cortese, second vice president; and Ed Rodgers, secretary-treasurer.

Other debated issues were term limits for officers (voted down) and the establishment of the board of directors (approved).

Bayard Rustin, long time civil rights activist and executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, spoke, urging members to "organize, agitate, and fight in the Legislature for kids."

Rustin commended the fledgling union, insisting that "if teachers can forge a single effort they can not only change education but they can have a profound effect on behalf of the dispossessed and the poor."

Keep the clock

One of the finest hours in RA history came at a trying time for the union.

In 1976, growing tensions between NYSUT and NEA cast a dark mood over the annual convention. The fledgling statewide union was in danger of being broken apart.

Then Al Shanker, NYSUT executive vice president at the time, got up to speak.

"Al was a debater," Hobart recalled. "He would have a perfect solution - clear and logical - and the whole body would follow him."

Shanker's speech compared the 4-year-old union to an intricate but fragile clockworks that could be shattered by continued infighting. His words before a prolonged standing ovation were: "Our organization is a wonderful work of art. If it is destroyed, it will never be put together again. To each of us goes the responsibility of seeing that the clock survives - and not the sledgehammer."

His words were prophetic, as NYSUT survived and flourished.

Other RA highlights were:

• 1982: major issues at the RA included tuition tax credits, Gov. Hugh Carey's veto of state aid, President Ronald Reagan's education cuts, and the goal of eliminating Tier III.
• 1989: Support for the striking Eastern Airline workers and opposition to boss Frank Lorenzo was a dominant theme. Other resolutions called for curbing bias-related violence and supporting organized labor in Eastern Europe.
• 1994: School violence and a proposal for a comprehensive Safe-Schools Act are the hot topics. Gov. Mario Cuomo speaks up for increased education funding and against vouchers.

Over the years, the RAs have hosted speeches by presidential hopefuls Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton; governors Malcolm Wilson, Hugh Carey, and Mario Cuomo; and numerous state and national congressional candidates, including state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Other notable speeches have come from United Farm Workers President Caesar Chavez, civil rights activist Harry Wu and state AFL-CIO President Edward Cleary.

The total attendance at the RA, which includes both voting and non-voting members, has soared from barely 2,000 in 1973 to more than 3,000 attendees expected in 1998.

Of the 1,900 delegates in attendance at the first RA, more than 175 have have been elected to represent their local union every year since 1973.

Judith Russell, now a retired member of the West Hempstead Educators Association in Long Island, said that the RA is about more than just the growth of the union: It's also about personal growth.

"Being a delegate each year gave me a chance to find out what's happening and what the issues are in other areas around the state," Russell said. "It broadened my views of education."

For NYSUT Board member Ed Alfonsin, his days as a delegate for United University Professions provided a chance to exchange ideas with K-12 teachers. Alfonsin, an English professor at SUNY Potsdam, said the RA "was a way to keep a finger on the pulse of things outside the university."

Irwin Polishook, president of Professional Staff Congress at CUNY in New York City, hasn't missed a single RA.

"Over the years, the NYSUT RA has been the place where important policy issues get addressed," Polishook said. "From day one the union has been there to protect academic values that matter to faculty. The union has fought for open admissions, educational opportunity, and bilingual education. The RA is often where viable solutions are found."

Hannah Neuhaus, a retired member of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City, decided to make last year her final RA.

After a quarter-century, it may be time to let new, younger delegates take over. Neuhaus retired as a paraprofessional seven years ago but has remained active in the union.

"I grew up with this union," Neuhaus said. "I've been to a lot of conventions. Especially in the early days, I've felt a lot of heartache. And I've seen a lot of accomplishments."

Continue to 'Looking to the Future'