AFT-Speeches

Al Shanker delivers this address to the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) organization. Shanker begins by discussing various laws affecting funding to schools. He then turns to reform efforts. He talks about the teacher shortage and ways to recruit new teachers. He mentions the need for higher salaries, smaller class sizes, and increased time away from students. He notes that these are difficult to achieve but that giving teachers independence and respect is one easy way to make the job more attractive.  read more »

Al Shanker discusses the problems with children's level of school-readiness. He states that simply promoting students to the next grade because of their age is counter productive. He advocates for longer kindergarten programs to ensure basic school-readiness. He also advocates for public pre-school programs. Shanker also notes that investing in such programs for young children will save the money that is invested in safety net programs at a later age, and will likely have a greater effect than later programs.  read more »

Al Shanker states that the last three years since the “Nation at Risk Report” was published have seen education reform legislation passed in many states. He notes that businesses threatened to leave states if education did not improve. Yet, Shanker believes that this reform has not been successful. He finds it ironic that businesses called similar measures 'over-regulation' when they applied to industry but legislators call it reform in education. Shanker notes that the public still has a negative view of public education and that vouchers and tuition tax credits are not a good solution.  read more »