The Cedar Rapids Federation of Teachers was organized on April 28, 1942, at a meeting held in the Cedar Rapids Young Women's Christian Association building. The CRFT received a charter from the American Federation of Teachers and formally became Local 716 of the AFT on May 18, 1969.
The objectives of the Cedar Rapids Federation of Teachers as defined in the union's constitution are: 1) To bring the teachers of the Cedar Rapids public schools into relations of mutual assistance and cooperation, 2) To obtain for them all the rights to which they are entitled, including the securing of legislative action, 3) To raise the standards of the teaching profession by securing conditions essential to the best professional service, and 4) To promote such a democratization of the schools as will enable them to equip their pupils to take their places in the industrial, social and political life of the community.
Local 716 has been an active participant in the pursuit of the above delineated objectives for the past quarter century. The papers of CRFT, especially the correspondence and minutes, provide more than ample documentation of the union's fight for economic and social justice, not only for its members but for the Cedar Rapids community as a whole.
