Political Action

Albert Shanker

         The fall 20007 issue of American Educator, a publication of the American Federation of Teachers, features an excerpt from a new biography of Albert Shanker, former AFT president.  Shanker was a union leader, intellectual and reformer who championed teacher professionalism, high academic standards and democracy at home and abroad.  This excerpt is must reading for anyone interested in the rise of unionism in education in the United States.

        The biography, Tough Liberal: Albert Shanker and the Battles Over Schools, Unions, Race and Democracy, was written by Richard Kahlenberg in 2007 (Columbia University Press).  Kahlenberg was a featured speaker at the AFT Quest Conference this past summer 2007, at which time Albert Shanker’s widow and two sons were present for a tribute to Albert Shanker.

Eileen Griffith

Political Action Chair, NYSUT/AFT Delegate

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