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Key role for SRP members
PICTURED: Hobart recognizes SRP members of the Hempstead Teaching Assistants Association on their 35th union anniversary in 2002.
 When NYSUT was a fledgling organization, "no one ever imagined we'd have over a half-million members just 30 years later," said Paul Cole, a former social studies teacher in the Lewiston-Porter schools who is secretary-treasurer of the state AFL-CIO.
From the beginning, Hobart recognized the value of strength in numbers. To imbue staff and fellow officers with his own unwavering focus on NYSUT's mission, he was known for invoking from his store of apt aphorisms. He repeatedly quoted Vito deLeonardis, NYSUT executive director during the '70s and '80s, who said: "No union is the same size next year. You either get bigger or you get smaller."
Hobart saw common ground with many constituencies. One of the fastest growing membership areas was School-Related Professionals. Glenn Lucas was a custodian and building rep in the New Rochelle schools in the lower Hudson Valley when he met Hobart at one of the first statewide conferences for SRPs in the late 1970s. Hobart's commitment to SRPs led to many legislative gains on their behalf, as well as high-profile roles in union governance and committees, said Lucas, a NYSUT Board member.
"I remember he spoke about how important it was for SRPs to get more involved in the state union, not to just look at what the union could do for them," Lucas said.
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