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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2001

NEWS RELEASE

NEA Approves Partnership Agreement With AFT

Los Angeles, CA - More than 9,000 delegates at the National Education Association's Representative Assembly voted today in favor of an historic partnership agreement with the American Federation of Teachers.

If approved by the AFT when it meets later this month, the partnership agreement would provide a framework for the only two national teachers unions in the country to advance the common interests of their members.

"This is an exhilarating time for public schools," said NEA President Bob Chase. "There is a world of new opportunities for our members. In this new partnership, the NEA and AFT can work together to make every public school great."

The vote on the partnership agreement took place at the NEA's Representative Assembly, the policy-making body of the 2.6 million-member association. The partnership is not finalized until the AFT Executive Council votes on the agreement on July 11 when they meet in Washington, D.C.

The agreement, titled the NEAFT partnership, would provide a framework for regular and focused cooperation between the two unions by creating a joint council composed of 15 representatives of each organization. These representatives will include the 11 members of the AFT Executive Committee and the nine members of the NEA Executive Committee. The remaining four AFT representatives and six NEA representatives will be appointed by their respective organizations.

If the partnership is approved by the AFT, the joint council would decide on the partnership activities the two organizations would participate in. Some possibilities for those joint activities include holding conferences on substantive topics of common interest; and coordinating legal and legislative actions.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.