David J. Quolke is an Ohio-based former teachers union official[1] and Democratic Party organizer. [2] Quolke was the vice president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union from July 2012 to July 2020[3] and the president of the Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU) from 2008 until April 2020. [4]
Quolke was a national co-chair of Educators for Biden during the 2020 election cycle. [5] Following the 2020 presidential election, he claimed that teachers got President Joe Biden (D) elected. [6]
Quolke has shared posts[7] in support of the far-left Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter,[8] co-signed a letter classifying critical race theory-inspired racial equity as “the great unfinished work of the country,”[9] and shared links to critical race theory-inspired “anti-racist reading lists for children and adults,” [10] which included the controversial 1619 Project. [11]
Career
David J. Quolke was vice president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) labor union from July 2012 to July 2020. [12]
While at AFT, Quolke has shared posts[13] in favor of the far-left Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter[14] and supported the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers in calling for a declaration that racism constitutes a “public health crisis.” [15] Quolke also co-signed a letter in support of student activists that calls critical race theory-inspired racial equity “the great unfinished work of the country”;[16] refers to certain instances of police use of force as “modern-day lynchings”; claimed the response to the death of George Floyd was peaceful and nonviolent; and accused then-President Donald Trump (R) of making a “health, economic, and justice system crisis” worse by directing police to fire rubber bullets and tear gas into crowds of protestors and proposing deploying military to “quash protests.” [17]
Quolke also shared links to a critical race theory-inspired “anti-racist reading lists for children and adults.” [18] The lesson, hosted by an AFT-backed website, includes links to the controversial 1619 Project along with other critical race theory-inspired works. [19]
From 2008 to April 2020, Quolke was the president of the Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU), a branch of the Ohio Federation of Teachers[20] in Cleveland, Ohio. [21] [22] Under his “progressive leadership,” [23] CTU received $300,000 from the AFT Innovation Fund and worked to implement federal government-imposed Common Core education standards. [24]
Prior to joining union leadership, Quolke was a teacher in the Cleveland School District 1984 to 2008. [25]
Quolke has been on the board of other labor union organizations including the North Shore Federation labor union; the Ohio American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO); and Ohio 8, a coalition of superintendents and teacher union presidents in Ohio. [26] He was a trustee of the left-of-center United Labor Agency,[27] which was formed by the Cleveland AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers (UAW), and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) to address social issues outside of collective bargaining agreements. [28]
Political Activities
David J. Quolke was a national co-chair of Educators for Biden with Marisol Garcia, vice president of the Arizona Education Association. [29] In this position, Quolke endorsed the Biden campaign,[30] attended phone banks,[31] [32] organized campaign events[33] and rallies,[34] and hosted an online early vote drive with then-candidate Biden’s wife, Jill Biden,[35] on September 21, 2020. [36]
On November 7, 2020, Quolke stated teachers “got Joe Biden elected” and cheered the prospect of having Jill Biden in the White House as First Lady. [37]
As a union activist, Quolke was steadfast in his support for unionization of charter school educators in Cleveland. [38] During the 2016 presidential campaign, Quolke attacked then-candidate Donald Trump’s decision to cancel a visit to a Cleveland charter school with unionized teachers and visit another institution instead. [39]
Political Contributions
Quolke has made Federal Election Commission-reportable contributions to the Democratic Party political candidates, labor union political action committees, campaign committees, and Democratic-affiliated pass-throughs such as ActBlue 11 times since 2006. [40] Quolke has supported the Ohio Democratic Party, American Federation of Teachers union, AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education, the campaign of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and the Congressional campaign of former House member and current Ohio District Court of Appeals judge Betty Sutton (D). [41]
Personal Life
David J. Quolke is married and has one daughter. [42][43] He attended Cleveland State University[44] and resides in North Royalton, Ohio. [45]