Teachers United: The Rise of New York State United Teachers

The inspiring history of NYSUT, New York State's largest union, and a powerful progressive force in the state and in the country.

This book tells the story of the rise of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), New York State's largest union. Using first-hand accounts by rank-and-file teachers as well as leaders, Dennis Gaffney documents how teachers, once underpaid and hopelessly divided, finally organized, lifting themselves from the underclass to the middle class to become a formidable grassroots political force able to defeat and elect U.S. senators. He describes how New York's teachers sparked the modern-day teachers' movement, and what key lessons other labor unions can learn from NYSUT's unity and success. Teachers United also shows how NYSUT has been a leader of educational reform, winning more money for education, creating smaller classes, raising academic standards, and training better teachers.

Dennis Gaffney is a freelance journalist based in Albany, New York, who has written for numerous venues over the past twenty years, including Mother Jones, the Nation, the New York Times, the History Channel Magazine, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has worked as a writer and video producer at WGBH, Boston's PBS station, and has written for the companion websites for American Experience and Antiques Roadshow. A graduate of Wesleyan University with a degree in history, he is now Adjunct Professor in the Department of Journalism at the University at Albany, State University of New York.