Burbank, California—The Executive Council of the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) has endorsed HR 676, single payer health care legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI).

Marty Hittelman, CFT President, said after the endorsement:

“The CFT has long been a strong supporter of Single Payer Universal Health Care as the civilized foundation for providing quality affordable healthcare to all of the residents of the United States. We believe that families must be healthy so that their children are healthy and that healthy students make for better students. It is especially important to educators that the United States have the highest quality system of providing healthcare. One that is available to all, independent of one’s financial standing.”

The California Federation of Teachers (CFT) is the California affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The CFT is composed of 135 local unions chartered by the AFT. The CFT represents over 120,000 educational employees working at every level of the education system in California, from Head Start to the University of California.

The resolution, approved February 9th, was forwarded to the AFT National Convention.