AFT-Speeches

Al Shanker describes how the typical liberal education which universities have offered in the past has been drastically diminished. He believes that the protest culture of the 1960s contributed to a lowering of academic standards which has continued through a promotion of vocational education. He states, “The university as a rallying point for political action may seem like a far cry from the university as a vocational training center.  read more »

After visiting refugee camps in Southeast Asia, Al Shanker urges the U.S. government to allow Cambodian refugees to enter the United States.

Al Shanker discusses the various political and legal events underway that might affect teachers and AFT''s lobbying actions to influence their outcomes. He briefly mentions several items like a pending court case dealing with the right of employees at parochial schools to organize and the establishment of a separate Department of Education. He highlights in more detail three of the AFT''s main political campaigns: Proposition 13 which dealt with property taxes, labor law reform, and tuition tax credits.  read more »

Al Shanker urges members of the United University Professors (UUP) of the SUNY (State University of New York) campuses to affiliate with AFT rather than with NEA. The major benefit he cites is the fact that AFT is already established in the state whereas the NEA would have to build the organization from the ground up. He discusses recent events in collective bargaining legislation, including an agency fee law in New York that greatly increased the UUP's bargaining power.

Shanker addresses the subcommittee on the issue of creating a federal department of Education.