Teachers Union Endorses Gore
Calling Vice President Al Gore a clear supporter of public education, the nation's second-largest teachers' union endorsed him for president Tuesday over Bill Bradley and George W. Bush, who have been criticized for supporting private-school vouchers.
Vouchers, which in some parts of the country are providing public money for private education, have long been the bane of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents nearly a million teachers, mostly in the nation's largest school districts.
AFT President Sandra Feldman, speaking shortly before the union's 38-member executive council board voted here Tuesday, said the endorsement is more about supporting Gore and less about punishing Bradley, a former New Jersey senator.
"We talked about Bradley," said Feldman. "We're not using that (the voucher issue) as a single-issue litmus test at all."
"It's just that Al Gore has been for years a close friend of education and of children," said Feldman, noting especially his support of federal programs that help poor and urban children. "This is a very positive endorsement of Al Gore on the record, not an endorsement against anyone."
Bradley, who hadn't won many friends among the teachers' unions for his views, recently backed away from his congressional support for school-voucher experiments.
He now says that giving parents public funds for private-school tuition is not "the answer to the problems of public education."
In the AFT vote, one council member abstained, but 37 members voted for Gore, said spokesman Gregory King.
GOP presidential front-runner Bush has also been criticized by organized labor for his support of school vouchers, which many argue help only a few students and take resources from public schools and give them to private institutions that don't need federal help. Bush proposed giving parents choice funds to hold schools more accountable for federal aid, particularly under the $8 billion Title I program for poor children.
Neither the Bradley nor Bush camp was immediately available for comment.
The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union with 2.4 million members, could issue an endorsement as early as Friday, said spokeswoman Kathleen Lyons.
For months the Democratic hopefuls have fought for the favor of organized labor, with Gore getting more competition than expected from Bradley. Bradley's campaign said it had won a small victory in beating back plans for an early AFL-CIO endorsement of Gore.
Some observers have said Tuesday's AFT nod, taking advantage of the growing political clout of education issues, may have come early to help solidify a stumbling Gore campaign, and to prod its parent organization, the AFL-CIO, and other labor organizations into issuing endorsements. The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions, is expected this month to finally throw the weight of its 72 unions and 13 million members behind the vice presiden.
"I think we'll be playing a strong role in trying to make that happen," Feldman said. "The endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers is very powerful not just in a primary but in the general election."
Feldman added that the vote Tuesday by the organization's executive board has support from the larger membership, which was polled earlier.
By Anjetta McQueen