Ron Smith has been NYSUT’s statewide Political Action Committee
coordinator since 2018. A dedicated unionist, he is credited with helping
shape NYSUT’s political profile over his career.
Smith first became interested in politics at SUNY Oswego and taught
social studies in Sayville Public Schools for 37 years. He became involved
in the union in the 1960s and assisted with the earliest contract
negotiations for his local. “We were building contracts from the ground
up,” he said. “It was the wild west of bargaining.” Smith was elected vice
president and then in 1978, chosen as president of his local— a post he
held for 28 years.
It was during his time as the union president that he realized the
impact that the union could have on school board elections and began
running full-scale campaigns. “It didn’t take a real leap for us to realize
that if we had a good school board, if we had people who were friendly on the school board, that would
make everything easier.”
Smith was elected to the NYSUT Board of Directors and selected to serve as a local Political Action
Coordinator, before taking on the then-nascent role of statewide Political Action Coordinator. He also
served as the executive vice president for the Long Island Federation of Labor and as a state committee
member for the Working Families Party.