AFT-Speeches

Albert Shanker was a guest on the television show Firing Line hosted by William Buckley. They debated in earnest the quality of New York City public education system. They covered some subjects on the right of teachers to strike and the power of unions. However, a majority of the debate centered on the Ocean Hill - Brownsville strike of 1968. For more information on Firing Line transcripts please follow this link http://hoohila.stanford.edu/firingline/index.php

Barbara Walters interviews Al Shanker and James Harris, president of the National Education Association (NEA) about a bill under consideration in Congress that would give teachers the right to bargain collectively. Harris and Shanker answer Walters's questions, explaining what the bill, if passed, would mean in practice.

Shanker outlines what accountability means to a teacher. He points out that the United Federation of Teachers created one of the first shared governance model in their 1969 contract that had teachers, administrators and parents sitting down to resolve issues. Shanker goes on to discuss the problems with educational vouchers, performance contracting and community control.

In this testimony Al Shanker addresses the presence of Hispanic, primarily Puerto Rican, educators in the New York City public school system. Shanker says that diversity is improving but that the number of Hispanic faculty and staff is not representative of the number of Hispanic students. He cites systemic problems of poverty and education for this, and states that those Hispanics who do earn college degrees frequently do not choose to go into teaching.

Al Shanker urges another New York teachers' union to accept the merger proposal before them to join his New York teachers' union. He discusses some of the compromises reached between the two groups on administrative and structural details. Ultimately, though, he argues that such details are unimportant to most teachers and most people. What is important, he asserts, is that together, the two groups can forcefully address the problems facing the education system in New York. He calls for cooperation and unity and strongly encourages them to accept the merger.