About Us
Chartered in 1958 by ten brave teachers, the Culver City Federation of Teachers, Local 1343, struggled for many years to gain teacher confidence and respect.
While it was true that the outstanding high school teachers were in the AFT (along with a few junior high school teachers) it was not until 1970 that an elementary teacher joined. A sick-out at the high school only, in 1969, equaled a major revolution. A few of the teachers called in and said, “I’m on strike and proud of it!” Those probationary teachers joining in the early 60s joined as Mr. or Mrs. X for fear of not getting tenure.
The advent of the Winton Act was a boon to CCFT. In 1973 a CCFT member, Jim Powell, became the chair of the CEC. Because of Jim’s leadership on the Council; the newsletter put out by editor Cal Pitts; Cal’s ex-wife Myrlene, an elementary teacher, who became the CCFT president; former presidents Pat Logsdon, Blanche Patton, Perry Polski, Gary Reidel, Larry Bordan; and other activists like Art Coopersmith, Jane Murray and many others, the CCFT beat CCTA in the first collective bargaining election in 1977 by one vote in a runoff. CCTA had three times the members of CCFT.