AFT-Speeches

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.  read more »

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.

At an unknown conference Shanker address the issue of th current state of the labor movement in the United States and how the liberal intellectuals have viewed the labor movement with its activities overseas. Shanker defends the reason that the American Labor movement is involved internationally.

Al Shanker fields questions from a panel of interviewers on a wide range of topics including the purpose of the teacher union movement; teacher salaries; student achievement; the rise of public employee unionism; Shanker's role at local and national levels of teachers' unions and the labor movement; school integration and busing; how to measure productivity in education; how to merge the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFT; the effects of teacher strikes; and school vouchers.

President Shanker discusses the affects of high interest rates on teachers and schools, and the potential effects of early childhood education on the economy and social assistance programs.