The American Federation of Teachers should not have endorsed a candidate so early in the election cycle. The members of the union have not had time to properly evaluate the candidates. Many of the candidates, including Hilary Clinton, have not put forward concrete proposals regarding how they would improve education and help teachers. Moreover, the candidates have not held a single debate. Polls done early in an election cycle are known to be very sensitive to name recognition, rather than more substantive issues that arise later in the campaign. Thus, the poll of members that has been done is simply not a good indication of the considered judgment of the members. Furthermore, the poll of AFT members was not well publicized beforehand.

There is, furthermore, an issue of bias. AFT President Randi Weingarten has strong political connections with Hilary Clinton:

"AFT President Randi Weingarten and Clinton have been longtime friends, dating back to Clinton’s time as a New York senator, when Weingarten was head of the state’s United Federation of Teachers. Weingarten is also on the board of Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting Clinton’s White House campaign." (Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/aft-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president-119988.html#ixzz3fhLghFkE).

Weingarten should not be involved in choosing the endorsement, but should have recused herself from the decision given these personal and political connections.

Thus, we call upon the American Federation of Teachers to rescind its endorsement of Hilary Clinton, and to await making an endorsement until such time as the candidates have been able to express their views and ideas adequately to the membership, and the membership has been given a better opportunity to express itself to the AFT leadership.