On this day in Labor History the year was 1984.
Jacqueline Vaughn became President of the Chicago Teachers’ Union.
Jacque started out as a teacher and became a member of the collective bargaining team in 1968.
She was elected Vice President of the CTU in 1972 and then became the first black woman to head up the third largest teacher’s union in the nation.
Between 1969 and 1987 the union authorized nine strikes to improve conditions for students and teachers.
The longest teachers’ strike to that date was in 1987 and lasted four weeks.
Teachers won a pay increase and a reduction in class size.
Vaughn once said "I think that teacher's strikes should not have to occur, but just as it is for other workers, the strike is the ultimate weapon when there's a total breakdown in the negotiating process."
Vaughn was skilled at building consensus among members of the union leadership team.
She was also a visionary.
She was able to get a one million dollar grant from the MacArthur Foundation to support the CTU Quest Center.
This center gives teaching teams a place to design their own methods of structuring both the teaching and learning process.
Jacqueline Vaughn was elected president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers in 1989.
Where she represented more than 70,000 Illinois Federation of Teachers members throughout the state.
Vaughn’s Chicago Teachers’ Union successor, President Tom Reece observed, "She left us footprints, not only behind her, but leading ahead. We intend to follow them."
Jacqueline Vaughn was one of many Chicago Teachers’ Union Leaders who left their mark on Chicago Public School students, and teachers.
She paved the way for another progressive CTU President, today’s Karen Lewis, who continues to valiantly fight against neighborhood school closures and massive funding cuts in the Chicago Public Schools budget.
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Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show