:  Membership & Involvement

The Albuquerque Teachers Federation is a professional, progressive union of over 3800 members. Our dues-paying members make all of our work possible. If you are an ATF member, thank you! Please ask your colleagues to join. If you are not yet a member, please click on "join" to download an application.

As an ATF member, you have access to the ATF staff, who can answer questions and help you resolve conficts and issues at your worksite. You also have access to member benefits through AFT, our national union. On an even larger scale, you will be helping us to advocate for public education on local, state and national levels.

There are many ways you can get involved in ATF. You can attend professional support classes and symposiums (even before you become a member). Our members can volunteer to help stuff mailings, make occasional phone calls, attend Board of Education Meetings, and help with union and community events. If you are interested in working on the political aspects of public education, you can be a working member of the Committee on Political Education (COPE). If you're an ATF member or are joining today, visit "what you can do" to download a volunteer form, and send it to "ATF Office" through Interschool Mail.

One of the most important ways members can become involved is to make a voluntary additional contribution to the Committee on Political Education (COPE). By law, union dues cannot be used for political endorsements or campaign contributions; however, in New Mexico, 96% of our funding for public education comes from the New Mexico state government. It is IMPERATIVE that we have education-friendly legislators, as well as an education-friendly governor, in the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. The COPE committee interviews candidates and makes recommendations based on their stance on public education and working families issues. The committee will give financial contributions to endorsed candidates' campaigns, and work to help get them elected.