lot of teachers lost their innocence. They thought the community liked them.'" Local education associations began to negotiate their own settlements, often agreeing not to challenge school districts for terminating the most militant teachers. Securing the right to bargain Although the 1968 strike did not achieve the goals the FEA had set, FEA members were radicalized by the strike and the association won other victories. Later in 1968, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in Pinellas County Classroom Teachers Association v. Board of Public Instruction, 214 So. 2d 34 (September 18, 1968), that state law did not prohibit public employees (such as teachers) from bargaining collectively. However, the court also said that public employees did not have the right to strike. A year later, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that teachers had a constitutional right to bargain collectively. In 1968, two newly employed teachers and the Dade County Education Association, Local 1875, AFT, sued the Board of Public Instruction of Dade County and DCCTA. In an ironic twist, AFT argued that the school board's collective bargaining relationship with DCCTA was unconstitutional under Florida's constitution. The AFT's strategy was to break DCCTA's collective bargaining relationship, then organize the teachers in Dade County itself. But after the lawsuit had been filed, Florida voters in November 1968 approved a new state constitution. In mid-1969, the Florida Supreme Court held in Dade County Classroom Teachers Association v. Ryan, 225 So. 2d 903 (July 9, 1969), that both the old and new Florida constitutions gave all employees—whether employed in the public or private sector—the right to bargain collectively. The court did not hold that public employees had the right to strike or that the state had a duty bargain with its employees or their organization, but the mere affirmation of public-sector collective bargaining rights was a major victory for FEA. FEA splits External and internal pressures caused two organizational splits in the Florida Education Association in the 1970s. The external pressure came from the American Federation of Teachers. FEA had spent nearly $1 million supporting local associations in the 1968 strike, leaving it financially weakened. The strike had drawn the AFT's attention, and—sensing that teachers in Florida were ripe for organizing—the union had begun establishing local affiliates in the state shortly thereafter. The AFT convinced FEA president-elect Louise Alford to leave FEA and work for the AFT, and later persuaded Richard Batchelder (a former president of