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Randi Weingarten
| Randi Weingarten | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | American Federation of Teachers | ||
| Role: | President | ||
| Location: | Washington, D.C. | ||
| Expertise: | Education | ||
| Education: | •Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations •Cardozo School of Law (J.D.) | ||
| Website: | Official website | ||
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Randi Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a 1.6 million-member union. She is also on the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO. She has previously served as the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and also as legal counsel for the UFT.
Weingarten, a former lawyer and New York native, is active in education reform and has served on several federal, state and municipal committees on education and union activity, including the education reform commission created by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), the congressionally created Equity and Excellence Commission and New York City’s Municipal Labor Committee.
Career
Randi Weingarten began her career as a lawyer working for the New York legal firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. In 1986, she became the legal counsel for the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), where she helped to negotiate contracts and took up lawsuits for the UFT. From 1991 to 1997, she taught high school history at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn Heights.[1][2]
In 1998, Weingarten was elected president of the UFT; she was subsequently re-elected for three more terms.[1] At the same time, Weingarten was chairwoman of New York’s Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), which represented the city’s 100-plus public sector unions; she negotiated and bargained for benefits on behalf of the MLC unions.[1]
In 2008, Weingarten was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). As of 2015, she remains president of the organization. As president, she has been active in seeking to "improve classroom education, promote ‘solution-driven unionism,' improve teacher evaluation procedures, align tenure and due process, and advocate for increases in funding for facilities," according to Professor Martin H. Malin, director of IIT Chicago-Kent's Institute for Law and the Workplace.[2] She has also put forth initiatives, such as the AFT Innovation Fund, which, according to the AFT website, seeks to support sustainable, innovative and collaborative education reform projects developed by members and their local unions as well as spearheading "AFT’s Quality Education Agenda, which advocates for reforms grounded in evidence, equity, scalability and sustainability."[1] Weingarten has been a vocal supporter of teacher tenure and has introduced tenure reform.[3][4]
In 2011 and 2012, Weingarten served on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's education reform commission, and she was also appointed to the Equity and Excellence Commission, a congressionally appointed commission to address the disparities in educational opportunities that give rise to the achievement gap.[1][5]
As president of the AFT, Weingarten is also consequently on the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO, a coalition of 56 unions that represent 12.5 million members.[6]
In January 2016, Weingarten criticized New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the lack of a contract for City University New York unionized employees. She wrote in an email to AFT supporters, "[i]n the past, the state has provided support for a fair wage for these workers. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refused to provide funding—even though the state has more than $1 billion in surplus."[7] According to Politico, CUNY staff have worked without a contract for six years and five without a contractual raise. Weingarten stated that Cuomo should increase CUNY's budget in his January executive budget.[7]
Media
2016 Democratic National Convention
- Delegate to the 2016 DNC (click to expand)
- See also: Democratic National Convention, 2016
Weingarten was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from New York.[8] Weingarten was one of 44 superdelegates from New York. Superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were not bound by the results of their state’s primary or caucus to support a specific presidential candidate. Weingarten supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.[9] Clinton formally won the Democratic nomination for president on July 26, 2016.[10]
What is a superdelegate?
Superdelegates in 2016 were automatic delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meaning that, unlike regular delegates, they were not elected to this position. Also unlike regular delegates, they were not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate, and they were not bound by the results of their state's presidential primary election or caucus. In 2016, superdelegates included members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents. All superdelegates were free to support any presidential candidate of their choosing at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.[11]
New York primary results
- See also: Presidential election in New York, 2016
New York Democratic Primary, 2016 Candidate Vote % Votes Delegates 
Hillary Clinton 57.5% 1,133,980 139 Bernie Sanders 41.6% 820,256 108 Blank or void 0.8% 16,664 0 Totals 1,970,900 247 Source: The New York Times and New York State Board of Elections Delegate allocation
New York had 291 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 247 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide primary results.[13][14]
Forty-four party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.[13][15]
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 AFT, "Randi Weingarten," accessed August 6, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chicago-Kent College of Law, "American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, president Randi Weingarten to deliver IIT Chicago-Kent's 10th Distinguished Labor Leader Lecture," March 6, 2014
- ↑ NPR, "Teacher Tenure Necessary, Says Teachers' Unions," February 11, 2011
- ↑ The New York Times, "Leader of Teachers’ Union Urges Dismissal Overhaul," February 24, 2011
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, "U.S. Secretary of Education Appoints Members of Equity and Excellence Commission," February 17, 2011
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "Executive Council," accessed August 6, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Politico New York, "Weingarten blames Cuomo for CUNY union’s lack of contract," January 7, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention is based on our own research and lists provided by the Democratic National Committee to Vox.com in February 2016 and May 2016. If you think we made an error in identifying superdelegates, please send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ HillaryClinton.com, “Hillary for America Files for NY Primary, Support from NY DNC Members Growing,” accessed July 6, 2016
- ↑ To find out which candidate a superdelegate supported, Ballotpedia sought out public statements from the superdelegate in other media outlets and on social media. If we were unable to find a public statement that clearly articulated which candidate the superdelegate supported at the national convention, we listed that superdelegate as "unknown." If you believe we made an error in identifying which candidate a superdelegate supported, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "The Presidential Nominating Process and the National Party Conventions, 2016: Frequently Asked Questions," December 30, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "New York Exit Poll," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Democratic National Committee, "2016 Democratic National Convention Delegate/Alternate Allocation," updated February 19, 2016
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2016 Democratic Convention," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Democratic National Committee's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection, "Unpledged Delegates -- By State," May 27, 2016
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