Florida Education Association
It is a merged affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), and is a member of the AFL–CIO.But in larger school districts, the FEA was somewhat successful in obtaining occasional salary increases, improvements to facilities, and curriculum changes.The caucus was successful: The same year, the NEA Representative Assembly (RA) passed a resolution establishing the "Urban Project", adopting a policy of "professional negotiations" akin to collective bargaining, and requiring the NEA to provide staff, research and financial assistance to locals involved in "professional negotiations"."Sanctions" could be employed against any school district which, in the opinion of the local association, had engaged in "unethical or arbitrary" policies or which had refused "sound professional practices".Although the national NEA was obligated to provide assistance, the FEA was not and refused to become involved in Tornillo's campaign for professional negotiations.[3] The DCCTA's actions set in motion a series of events which led to a statewide Florida teachers' strike in 1968.State legislative action had often been the only way for NEA locals to win better pay and working conditions prior to the enactment of the professional negotiations policy, so FEA was no newcomer to politics.The association lobbied for a minimum teacher salary of $5,000 a year and a more equitable means of funding schools than property taxes.[8] In February 1968, FEA president Jane Arnold said the state association would support local teachers if they walked off the job.School districts hired substitute teachers as strikebreakers, and local businesses paid their employees to teach classes.'"[6] Local education associations began to negotiate their own settlements, often agreeing not to challenge school districts for terminating the most militant teachers.Later in 1968, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in Pinellas County Classroom Teachers Association v. Board of Public Instruction, 214 So.In an ironic twist, AFT argued that the school board's collective bargaining relationship with DCCTA was unconstitutional under Florida's constitution.The AFT's strategy was to break DCCTA's collective bargaining relationship, then organize the teachers in Dade County itself.The strike had drawn the AFT's attention, and—sensing that teachers in Florida were ripe for organizing—the union had begun establishing local affiliates in the state shortly thereafter.Tornillo began arguing that NEA and AFT should merge in the state of Florida to give educators more power.Tornillo's views carried a great deal of weight because DCCTA was the largest teachers' union in the state, and he was the leader of the militant faction within FEA.The NEA established a new state organization, the Florida Teaching Profession-National Education Association (FTP-NEA), and roughly half the FEA's original members joined it.With FEA-United's support, the post was won by Marilyn Lenard, president of the Space Coast Labor Council and a CWA member.The unions encouraged each state to also sign no-raid and jurisdictional agreements, and both teachers' federations in Florida quickly did so.Florida's governor's office and state legislature have been dominated by Republicans, who have proven legislatively active and willing to experiment with a number of new educational policies.FEA, traditionally much more prone to lean Democratic, has engaged in draining and lengthy battles over school vouchers, teacher tenure, merit pay, bonus pay, bans and limitations on the collection of teacher union dues, the teaching of creationism, student testing, classroom overcrowding and salaries.In July of the same year, long-time Broward Teachers Union president Tony Gentile was arrested during an Internet sting operation.In a settlement package, the local union paid him for unused sick and vacation time and a retirement contribution valued at $120,000.And in April 2003, the FBI and Miami police raided the headquarters of the United Teachers of Dade after receiving a tip that president Pat Tornillo had embezzled or misspent millions of dollars in union dues.