Jewish Women's Archive reports on the boss:
Randi Weingarten, the current president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), was born in New York City in 1957 and grew up in Rockland County, NY. She developed her interest in labor unions and politics as a teenager, when her mother—a teacher—went on strike. In high school, she and fellow students also successfully protested school board budget cuts.There's more:
In addition to her work as a lawyer and leader for teacher unions, Weingarten also has direct teaching experience, having taught history at Clara Barton High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, from 1991 to 1997.A biography of a Democrat party icon. Randi Weingarten : leading your children to the Brave New World via government schools.
Weingarten is an active member of Democratic National Committee, among other civic organizations. She served for ten years as the chair of New York City's Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella organization for the city's many public sector unions.
Weingarten is a lesbian, and the first openly gay person to be elected president of a national American labor union. She and her partner were members of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York's gay and lesbian synagogue.
