The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1947-04-24


new locals have been chartered by
the American Federation of Teach
ers (AFL) since the start of the
current school year = 80 of them
since Jenuary l, the largest num-
ber chartered in any comparable
period in the history of the AFT.
This disclosure highlighted an
address by Irwin r. Kuenzli, AFT
national secretary, before the new
ly formed Connecticut State Fed
Grafton of Teachers at the Yale Di-
vinity School Auditorium.
The campaign of the National
Education Association to check the
rapid progress of the AFT, Mr..
Kuenzli declared, "rather than him
dering it's expansion, is serving as
a boomerang and accelerating the
organization of teachers.
"On March 22," Mr.. Kuenzli
said, willard Givens, national
executive secretary of the NEA,
gave an address to a group of
teachers in Cleveland, Ohio, in
which he emphatically condemned
the organization of teachers in
unions affiliated with organized
labor. During the week following
Mr.. Givens' address five new locals
of the AFT were organized.
"Since the NEA is controlled
largely by superintendent of
schools, most of whom occupy poll
tical jobs and many of whom have
been imported by certain organized
groups for the purpose of keeping
teachers salaries down, it is not
surprising that officials of the or
ganization should feel that teach
ers should not organize in groups
which would give them real power
and the advantages of collective
bargaining.
Herein lies the basis of the
never ending school crises which
have eliminated in the present
critical situation in the schools. In
a profession in which the employ
er-who hires and fires the teach
the employees or
ganization, it is not surprising
that salaries and working condi-
tions have been at such a low pro-
fessional level that teachers are
leaving the profession in a mass
exodus.
"In 1943, Mr.. Givens, addressing
the annual convention of the NEA,
described the weakness of the NEA
as follows:
THE Associations chief weak
ness is in the field of teacher well
fare and in mastering legislative
pressure wher rapid and integrated
action is demanded 1t is pos
sible that teachers associations as
now organized, with small dues
and limited welfare programs, can
compete indefinitely with the or
ganized groups that have expan-
sive and powerful purposes?'
"This failure of nonunion groups |
to provide for the professional well I
fare of teachers and to muster leg
islative action when needed is a
basic cause of the present school
crisis. Our answer is a clear-cut
No to Mr.. Givens' query as to
whether teachers associations as
now organized can compete in
definitely. with the organized
groups that have powerful and ex-
oansive purposes. In this ques-
ion, asked by Mr.. Givens three
years ago, lies the cause of the
present crisis in the schools.
Teachers are beginning to rea-
ize this fact and are disregarding
he advice of the NEA officials to
stay out of the AFT. The AFT
low has locals in all but one of
he 25 largest cities of the nation.
There are also AFT locals in near
y three-fourths of the cities of the
Nation over 100000 population and
n hundreds Of cities and towns un-
Ter 100000. Some Of these locals
re still new and relatively small
ut a large percentage of them
re strong organizations repre-