Teachers Union Chief Sandra Feldman

She was a substitute third-grade teacher for six months at an East Harlem school, but the experience was not a happy one.

"I totally identified with the kids. I used to bring them chicken soup and fruit when they were sick," Ms. Feldman told the New York Times. "But I had no training, and I soon lost complete control of the class. I concluded that, if I was going to keep on teaching, I better learn how."

While working on a master's degree in literature at New York University, which she completed in 1963, she taught full time at Public School 34 on New York's Lower East Side. She joined the teachers union and organized the entire teaching staff within a year.

Albert Shanker, who in 1964 became president of New York City's United Federation of Teachers, hired Ms. Feldman in 1966 on Rustin's recommendation to be the union's full-time field representative. She handled member grievances for the union, the American Federation of Teachers' largest affiliate, and was deeply involved in the city's bitter and protracted teachers strike in 1968.

Shanker became president of the American Federation of Teachers in 1974 while retaining his position as head of the New York local; Ms. Feldman directed the local's staff. In 1986, he relinquished his local duties, and Ms. Feldman took over as president and executive director.

She was chosen by the union's executive council to finish Shanker's term after he died of cancer in 1997, and she was elected to three two-year terms, which she served until her retirement last year.

"Perhaps more than any other person in a similar position, New York's children and then the nation's low-income children became her children," said Haycock, of Education Trust. "She humanized the issues, put a child's face on them and connected them to the intellectual rigor of Al Shanker."

Ms. Feldman's marriage to Paul Feldman ended in divorce.

Survivors include her husband of 25 years, Arthur Barnes of New York City; two stepchildren, David Barnes and Donna Marie Barnes, both of New York City; a brother; a sister; and two grandchildren.