Where We Stand

Al Shanker died, after a long battle with cancer, on February 22, 1997. Al's first Where We Stand column appeared over 25 years ago on December 13, 1970. His final one is taken from an autobiographical essay, "Forty Years in the Profession," which originally appeared in Reflections: Personal Essays by 33 Distinguished Educators (Phi Delta Kappa, 1990). In the essay, Al talks about his lifelong dedication to "gaining collective bargaining rights for teachers and using the collective bargaining process to improve teachers' salaries and working conditions." He also makes it clear that the teacher union movement always had an equally important aim: making schools work better for kids. His tireless efforts, during the past 15 years or so, on behalf of high standards of conduct and achievement and against the fads and follies that threaten to destroy public education were not an "about face" but a logical extension of his trade unionism.

Archived Where We Stand Articles

July Jul11, 1976

How Solve Education's Problems? A Separate Cabinet Department May Not Be The Answer

Since this is a Presidential election year, it is also a year in which different interest groups seek commitments from candidates. Those whose major concern is education are no different from other interest groups in this respect. So far, the promise most often made by prospective candidates to education lobbyists is to support the creation of a separate Department of Education which would be headed by a Cabinet member who would be called Secretary of Education.

November Nov7, 1971

Field Day for Educational "Research"

Research in science is one thing, research in education is another.

October Oct31, 1971

The New Challenge to Collective Bargaining ...

In the past few years so much has been written about teachers militancy, protests and strikes as part of the national movement toward collective bargaining, that many tend to forget that the movement is relatively new. December 1971 will mark the tenth anniversary of the election of the United Federation of Teachers as collective bargaining agents for New York City's teachers.

October Oct24, 1971

No Time to Short Change Our Vocational High School

At a time when universal agreement on matters pertaining to education and ours schools is virtually non-existent, the emergence of any significant area free of controversy is worth noting. Such an area is that of job-related vocational education.

October Oct17, 1971

Should Tax-Exempt Foundations Be Exempt From Accountability

The concept of accountability continues to rank high on the list of discussion topics in educational circles.

October Oct10, 1971

Local Property Taxes vs. Educational Equality: The California Decision Sets a Precedent

The last two decades have seen the courts take action on basic national issues in areas where the legislative and executive branches had not acted. The great progress we have witnessed in civil rights would not have been achieved without the impetus given by court decisions. Similarly, undemocratic forms of representation could not have been ended if not for the court decision on one-man-one-vote.

October Oct3, 1971

The Educational "Progressives": A New Establishment

Over the last half century, there has been constant debate between "traditionalists" and "progressives" over basic educational philosophy. In the past decade, however, most of the critical writings have come from the later group.

September Sep26, 1971

The Board of Examiners Faces a New Test

In the history of our country, one of the great achievements of the liberal-reform movement was the establishment of the civil service system in government employment. Civil service reform, however, has not been instituted in school systems, except for those of New York City and a few other large cities.

September Sep19, 1971

Is Middle America the Victim of Elitist Bigotry?

Mr. Shanker's guest columnist this week is Msgr. George G. Higgins, Director of the Division of Urban Life of the US Catholic Conference.

September Sep12, 1971

The Schools Open in a Mess

The newspaper headlines of the past few years should have readily convinced even the most skeptical that the lot of the teacher is a very difficult one. Each year teachers hope that something will happen to make the next year a better one, but, as the new school year begins, teachers are faced with unprecedented headaches.

September Sep5, 1971

Teachers, Unions and Politics: Some Thoughts for Labor Day

Mr. Shanker is presently traveling in Africa as a representative of the International Federation of Free Trade Unions, for the purpose of exchanging information and ideas on education, and of fostering union solidarity. His guest columnist today is Tom Kahn, Executive Director of the League for Industrial Democracy, a labor-supported educational society.

August Aug29, 1971

Nixon's New Game Plan

It is hard to conceive of any economic crisis, in any society, which can be blamed equally on all of its citizens.

August Aug21, 1971

Statehood for New York City?

The spectacular surge in stock prices that immediately followed President Nixon's announcement of his new economic policy vividly underscores the fact that this policy has yielded and will continue to yield huge financial benefits to those with large stock investments while freezing the wages of teachers and other workers. The rich will get richer, and the poor will get poorer.

August Aug15, 1971

Decentralization II: The New York Experience

George Santayana once defined fanaticism as the process of redoubling your efforts after you have forgotten your aims. The definition applies fairly well to the supporters of school decentralization and community control here in New York.

August Aug8, 1971

Decentralization: Closer Look at a Sacred Cow

In June, the New York Times, in a year-end summary of the state of our city's public schools, reported that most of the groups active on the school scene believed that school decentralization was a success. Such expressions of approval were of course to be expected, in light of the fact that in the past few years the virtues of decentralization and community control have been put forth as absolute dogma.

August Aug1, 1971

Won't They Ever Learn?

Mr. Shanker is on a short vacation. His guest columnist today, a leader in the fight for racial equality, is Bayard Rustin, Executive Director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

July Jul25, 1971

Which Side Are You On?

With prospects looming for a steel strike, in the wake of other major strikes still in progress or only recently settled, the anti-labor propaganda machines are working full blast -- as nothing else seems to be in Mr. Nixon's recession economy.

July Jul18, 1971

High-Sounding "Innovations" and Musical Chairs

If the last decade has produced anything in education, it has been an outpouring of books critical of existing school procedures and practices and calling for a multitude of changes. The critics, almost to a man, see teachers as a major obstacle to "innovation." In the sense that teachers, drawing on their experience and training, see the need for restraint in the current passion for "innovation," the critics are right.

July Jul11, 1971

The Voucher Plan Strikes a Blow at the Public Schools

In this column last Sunday I discussed the latest educational gimmick -- vouchers. In the July 12 issue of The New Leader, in his article on "Vouchers and Public Education," economist Lekachman's article is must reading.

July Jul4, 1971

The Educational Voucher Idea: A Present Danger

One of the "hottest" educational items being peddled by the Nixon administration is the educational voucher program.