American Federation of Teachers (AFT

TABLE 2.1

Year

1960 1970 1980 1990 1995 1998 2003 2011 2014 Membership in the NEA and AFT

NEA Membership

714,000 1,100,000 1,650,000 2,050,000 2,200,000 2,300,000 2,700,000 3,200,000 3,000,000

AFT Membership

59,000 205,000 550,000 750,000 875,000 950,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 1,600,000

Source: “the AFt Soars,” The 1988–90 Report of the Officers of the American Federation of Teachers (washington, DC: AFt, 1990), p. 15; NEA Handbook, 1986–87 (washington, DC: nEA, 1986), table 4, p. 142; NEA Handbook, 1994–95 (washington, DC: nEA, 1995), table 1, p. 164; and NEA Handbook, 1997–98, table 1, p. 166; also see www.nea.org/home/1594.htm (2009) and www.aft.org/join/ (2011); www .nea.org/home/2580.htm (2015) and www.aft.org/about (2015).

influential state-level education lobbies.53 The NEA offers a wide range of professional services. Individual benefits include savings on optional insurance programs, financial services, and member discounts on various services. It also publishes research memos and opinion surveys on an annual basis.54 The NEA’s major publication is a quarterly magazine, NEA Today. There is also a daily e-newsletter, neaToday.

2-3b American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

Formed in 1916, the AFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) labor union. The AFT was originally open only to classroom teachers. In 1976, however, to increase membership, the AFT targeted professional employees such as higher-education faculty, nurses, health-care professionals, government employees, and school-related personnel such as paraprofessionals and cafeteria, custodial, maintenance, and transportation workers. Membership in 2014 stood at just over 1.6 million (Table 2.1).

The AFT publishes a quarterly professional magazine, American Educator. Members have access to resources on the AFT website that are designed to enhance classroom teaching and learning. The AFT also provides individual benefits to members similar to those of the NEA, such as access to legal services and insurance programs. Unlike the NEA, the AFT has always required its members to join the local (3,000 affiliates), state, and national organizations simultaneously.55

The AFT expanded rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s when its affiliates spearheaded a dramatic increase in teacher strikes and other militant job actions. Subsequently, the AFT became the dominant teacher organization in many large urban centers where unions have traditionally flourished, where militant tactics were common, and where teachers in general have wanted a powerful organization to represent them. In rural and suburban areas, where union tactics have received less support, the NEA remains dominant.

53See www.nea.org/home/LegislativeActionCenter.html (January 14, 2015). 54See www.neamb.com (April 20, 2015). 55See “About Us” at www.aft.org/about (January 14, 2015); “Our Periodicals” at www.aft .org/our-news/periodicals (January 14, 2015).