Teacher unions must provide leadership for the collective voice of their members. Teacher unions have a responsibility to students, their families, and to the broader society. Teacher unions are committed to public education as a vital element of our democracy. What unites these responsibilities is our commitment to help all children learn.

We affirm the union's responsibility to collaborate with other stakeholders in public education and to seek consistently higher levels of student achievement by:

• Improving continuously the quality of teaching.
• Promoting in public education and in the union democratic dynamics, fairness, and due process for all.
• Seeking to expand the scope of collective bargaining to include instructional and professional issues.
• Improving on an ongoing basis the terms and conditions under which both adults and children work and learn.