AFT-Speeches

Al Shanker addresses union members and guests at the AFT annual convention. He discusses at great length legal, political, and judicial issues that affect public education including: a recent Supreme Court decision in the case National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) v. Yeshiva University in which professors were deemed management and thus unable to unionize; Lau Regulations, named for a court case, Lau v. Nichols, which mandated bilingual education; Youth Employment Programs that created publicly funded private institutions for high school students; the presidential Democratic Convention at which Jimmy Carter won the nomination over the AFT's endorsed candidate, Ted Kennedy; and the NEA's support of the Department of Education. Additionally, Shanker welcomed to the convention union members who were not involved in education as the AFT had recently added members from the health care and civil service fields. Shanker also welcomed international members and asserted the AFT's commitment to human rights and international aid. Shanker warned against tuition tax credits and vouchers. He also discussed partnerships with the business community to address dire economic conditions in the nation's cities, enlisting corporate help to support schools. Finally, Shanker states that education cannot be improved by political action alone, insisting that teachers commit to improving educational quality and relationships with parents.

In this testimony, Al Shanker urges the U.S. Department of Education that rules concerning bilingual education not be adopted. He states that the rules as written would cause undue financial burden on local schools to meet federal mandates with little federal funding. He further argues that the assessment methods for selecting students to receive bilingual education are flawed, and he notes the lack of teachers able to teach bilingual students. The rules address teacher training, which Shanker applauds, but he finds fault with their specifics.  read more »

Al Shanker notes that public schools are losing political power because the electorate is aging and a smaller percentage of it has children in schools. Additionally, the economy is slowing. Finally, public confidence in public schools is low. Shanker acknowledges there is little they can do about the economy, and only a little more they can do to increase political power. The true place for improvement, he argues, is in restoring the public''s confidence in the school system.  read more »

Shanker addresses the changes the country was experiencing in collective bargaining. He attributed these changes to the change in the economy.