Daniel J. Montgomery

Daniel J. Montgomery was elected as an AFT vice president at the union’s executive council meeting July 9, 2011. He also is the president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers.

A veteran educator and union activist, Montgomery has been an IFT member since 1993. He served as head of the 1,700-member North Suburban Teachers Union, Local 1274, for nearly 10 years, and was a vice president on the IFT executive board from 2002 until his election to the IFT presidency in 2010. As a board member, he chaired numerous executive board committees, including the personnel committee, the negotiations committee and the locals committee, and he also was a member of the board’s 12-member executive committee.

Montgomery has been active at the national level, as well. Since 2004, he has served on the AFT Teachers program and policy council, a group he now co-chairs. He also has served on committees on teacher evaluation, retirement security and standards.

He currently serves on the executive board of the Illinois AFL-CIO, and on the boards of directors of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Chicago Talent Development High School (a unionized charter school) and Chicago’s famed Theater Oobleck.

A dedicated and experienced educator, Montgomery taught English for 18 years at Niles North High School in Skokie, Ill. He also taught in the City Colleges of Chicago and at Northwestern University. His teaching expertise has earned him a place as a member on the board of directors of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

Montgomery is married, has three children and resides in Evanston, Ill.