School Finance

Michigan Federation of Teachers Records

dgolodner — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 14:23:35 -0400

Parts 1 and 2 consist of correspondence, minutes, and reports. Subjects include Administrative Board meetings; American Federation of Teachers; conventions; Detroit Federation of Teachers; Executive Council meetings; Haven Hill conferences; legislative lobbying activities; membership campaigns; metropolitan teachers' institutes; Michigan AFL-CIO Council; Michigan Constitutional Convention (1961); teachers' salary and fringe benefits surveys; treasurer reports; White House Conference on Children and Youth (1960). Correspondents include Detroit city officials, Michigan congressmen and state officials, and national congressmen and officials including John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Most of the letters are answers to invitations for speaking engagements.
Part III deals mostly with the efforts to organize teachers during the 1960s and 1970s and dealing with the strikes that accompany labor disputes which is represented in the series Locals. There is ample amount of information about the American Federation of Teachers growth and inner workings during the 1960s and 1970s in the convention files; within these files there are not only basic convention materials but also notes from committee work and flyers from various factions within the AFT. MFT was a part of policy in education finances, assessments of teachers and teacher centers and is reflected in files dealing with the department of education and the like. Part III covers a broad range of topics with specific details on education reform in the 1970s, collective bargaining issues for teachers, political structures in Michigan and various issues on civil rights in Michigan, particularly the bussing of students. Series five contains photographs and audio recordings.

AFT Office of the President Records

dgolodner — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:06:07 -0400

Minutes, correspondence, reports, publications covering the president's office of Carl Megel and predominantly Charlie Cogen and David Selden. Important subjects are teacher strikes, contract negotiations, school desegregation, Oceanhill-Brownsville, education legislation, job stress, teacher centers.

The records are divided into two parts.

American Federation of Teachers Publications

dgolodner — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 10:23:31 -0500

The American Federation of Teachers was founded in 1916 and immediately made the American Teacher, published by the New York City Teachers Union, as its official organ. Since then the AFT has published numerous publications that range from organizing tools to professional development materials for its members. It has also published materials dealing with the labor movement, tenure, civil and human rights as well as teaching tools. Official publications of the AFT also spoke directly to the AFT’s diverse membership, which includes higher education higher education faculty and staff, paraprofessionals, public employees and health care workers.

This is an artificial collection made up of these publications from AFT headquarters, AFT affiliates and individuals associated with the AFT drawn from the preexisting library collection and from various other shipments.

Charles Cheng Papers

dgolodner — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 11:36:18 -0500

Charles Cheng was an activist for education and the civil rights movement whose life was cut short when he died on May 25, 1979 when American Airlines flight 191 crashed after takeoff from O’Hare Airport. He was 42 years old.

He was born on February 23, 1937 raised on the east side of Detroit. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University, Cheng became a teacher in Pontiac, Michigan. He left teaching to become an organizer for the Michigan Federation of Teachers and soon became the assistant to the president of the Washington Teachers Union Local 6 in Washington DC.

Charles attended Antioch Graduate School of Education earning his masters degree in Education, then he attended Harvard Graduate School for Education to receive his Ed.D in 1975. While in Boston, Mr. Cheng was a research associate at the Center for Urban Studies at Harvard as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University Joint Center for Urban Studies. Mr. Cheng ended up at the University of California, Los Angeles as an assistant professor in the Department of Education where he became a leading authority on community participation in collective bargaining in public education.

Cheng wrote and spoke constantly about the idea that the community should be involved with the collective bargaining in public education. Cheng was very active as well with desegregation, starting in the 1960s when he attempted to desegregate the Pontiac, MI public schools, he was on a task force in Boston, consulted in Pasadena and was a citizen member for the Los Angeles Unified School District Desegregation Plan. Cheng’s interests also included racial justice, the teaching of the history of Asian-American and Native-Americans.

Sachs Waldman: Detroit Federation of Teachers Records

dgolodner — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 12:05:16 -0400

The law firm Sachs Waldman, Professional Corporation started in
October 13, 1922 by Nicholas J. Rothe, considered by many as the first
union labor lawyer in Michigan grew to represent the best interest of
unions and workers. In 1951 Theodore Sachs joined the firm and was
considered one of the best appellate attorneys in the country, under his
leadership the firm grew in clientele and personnel. In 1965, the law
firm began to specialize in public sector labor and began to represent
those unions that had just gained the right to bargain collectively,
notably with the Detroit Federation of Teachers and the Detroit
Fire Fighters Association. The Detroit Federation of Teachers was
founded in February 24, 1931 and remained a small but determined
organization that fought basic bread and butter issues for teachers in
Detroit. In 1964, the DFT became sole bargaining agent for Detroit
classroom teachers and by 1965 the DFT secured a comprehensive
contract. The DFT has remained the sole bargaining agent for Detroit
teachers since then and expanded their bargaining power to incorporate
various education reform issues. These records document the various
stages of collective bargaining for teachers in the 1970s-1990s in
Detroit that mirrors those issues faced by other teacher unions in large
cities.

(12494) AFSCME Council 8, Vote Yes on 2, Ohio Schools

scaloia — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 13:51:38 -0500

This image appeared in the December 1980 issue of AFSCME's Public Employee magazine with the caption: "Lucas County Local 544's John Booth, left, and Toledo Local 7's Bob Eischen set up another sign, one of more than 6,000 that were posted to urge passage of a new Toledo school tax levy." The sign reads: "Vote for schools" "An apple a day is a small price to pay." A sticker on Eischen's shirt reads: "Vote Yes on 2." Voters approved the school tax increase.

Podcast: "Taxing Limits: The Political Economy of American School Finance"

teller — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 16:39:28 -0400

Kelly Goodman speaks about the political history of funding education through local and state taxes. Having worked as a data analyst for the Detroit public schools, Goodman pursued graduate school to explore the structural issues surrounding questions she often found herself asking: why are some schools perceived to be bad? Why do some schools receive less funding than others? How does the economy work, and for whom? read more »

Podcast: 1933 Chicago Teachers Walkout: That Time Teachers Rioted With Textbooks and Rulers

teller — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 08:30:59 -0400

American Federation of Teachers archivist Dan Golodner tells ALPA archivist and guest host Bart Bealmear about the 1933 Chicago Teachers Walkout, when Chicago teachers joined together to demand that they be paid in actual money and on time, rather than in scrip that wasn’t honored by local businesses and banks during the Great Depression. read more »

[Podcast] The 1968 Florida Teachers' Strike: Public Sector Unionism and the Fight against Sunshine State Conservatism

teller — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:17:07 -0500

Dr. Jody Baxter Noll recounts the 1968 Florida Teachers’ Strike, in which 27,000 teachers across the state, amidst a shift in Florida politics toward a pro-business and suburban “Sunshine conservatism” reluctant to raise taxes for public education, submitted their resignations to gain collective bargaining rights and improved school funding. read more »