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

June Jun27, 1971

Needed: A Chancellor for New York City Schools

For a three year period, New Yorkers debated the question of whether there should be school decentralization or whether there should be total community control of schools.

June Jun20, 1971

Open Season on Pensions for Public Employees

Whenever public employee unions threaten or engage in strikes, the press is quick and near-unanimous in its condemnation. It rarely fails to point out that these strikes are illegal under the Taylor Law. What is omitted is the rationale underlying the strike prohibition: that strikes are not needed since the weight of public opinion will compel government officials to accept the recommendations of factfinders and to ratify and honor agreements.

June Jun13, 1971

George Washington High School: The Climate One Year Later

One year ago, George Washington High School was plagued by anarchy and repeated violence. The day-by-day confrontations are documented in Irving Witkin's Diary of a Teacher (available from the UFT). Now, according to a New York Times report, bloody riots have been replaced by "greatly relaxed tensions, greatly improved stability and morale, and cautious hope that the future will bring instructional reforms that few deny are necessary."

June Jun6, 1971

The Legislative Session: A Gang-Up Against Teachers

Until just a few years ago, teachers, while many in number, were a relatively voiceless group. Teacher salaries were notoriously low, and teachers were not even guaranteed such a basic working condition, enjoyed by every factory worker, as a lunch hour free of work.

May May30, 1971

The Fiscal Problem: Reckless Provocation Is No Answer

When the recent Newark school strike ran on and on for eleven weeks, everyone wondered why it took so long for the issues to be settled. A Very brief New York Times item (May 25) provides a significant clue: "The Newark Board of Education said today it was short $2.1 million to complete the fiscal year ending June 30." This money shortage exists in spite of the fact that the Newark Board saved $7 million on nonpayment of teacher salaries during the strike. These facts make it quite apparent that Mayor Kenneth Gibson had to close the schools of Newark because of a lack of funds and that by provoking the Newark teachers Union to strike, he shifted the blame for shutting down Newark's schools from himself to the teachers.

May May23, 1971

False Research vs. The Public Schools

There's nothing new about the "school crisis." Almost every American community experiences the annual school budget problem. But now there is a new twist emerging. Recently, the anti-school forces have taken the offensive, basing themselves on the "latest" in educational research.

May May16, 1971

A Time for Responsibility in Lawmaking!

The art of shifting blame to a scapegoat is being practiced with increasing frequency as our public officials -- city and state -- refuse to face up to their responsibilities. The most recent display of this timeworn art was the attempt to amend the Taylor Law to prevent public employee unions from negotiating on anything but salaries, vacations and holidays.

May May2, 1971

How Not to Approach the Budget Crisis

Our schools and our city now face their greatest crisis. Yet, during this crucial time, efforts to obtain adequate financial support have been undermined in the editorial columns of The New York Times and by Mayor Lindsay, who should be leading the fight for the city.

April Apr25, 1971

Anatomy of a Disaster

A few weeks ago, New York's schools averted major reductions in services when, in the face of a scheduled march for a million children by teachers, parents, unions, community school boards and students, the city "found" a way to cover a projected deficit of about $30 million. It was fortunate that a crisis was averted, but it was averted at great cost.

April Apr18, 1971

The Junior High School: Neglected Problem Area

Recent incidents of violence and disorder in public schools have focused attention on the need for school security measures to protect the overwhelming majority of students from the disruptive fewwho turn what should be a place of learning into a place of chaos and terror. Essentials as such measures are, they are of course one-sided in purpose. We must simultaneously work at improving the schools and the educational programs they offer.

April Apr11, 1971

Violence in the Schools: the Problem Persists: Students with "Inner Tornado's"

By the time the holiday recess in our schools is over, one month will have passed since two teachers were raped in their classrooms and another teacher brutally assaulted by the leader of a publicly funded community group in the Bronx. The question, after this new round of violence, of whether this time action will replace earlier promises remains unanswered.

March Mar28, 1971

Obstacles on the Road to Accountability

If there is a single idea, which is most under consideration in educational circles today, it is the idea of accountability. But, unfortunately, there are almost as many definitions of educational accountability as there are supporters of the idea. To some militant local groups it means the grant to them of total power to fire and hire professionals on whatever subjective basis suits their purpose. To those concerned with rising education costs, this term means an accounting for money spent how much learning output for each dollar of input.

March Mar21, 1971

Two Absentees in the Coalition to Save Our Public Schools

School fiscal crises are occurring all across the country. Educational programs are being abolished and services to children are curtailed. Only in New York City have the cutbacks so far been averted, thanks to the strength of an unprecedented coalition of forces which included parent groups, elected community school boards, the entire labor movement, the civil rights movement and high school student groups. Credit must also go to the central Board of Education for continuing to operate the schools with a full level of services until the money ran out and to Comptroller Abraham Beame, who resolved the crisis with a bookkeeping device which other governmental agencies were already using.

March Mar14, 1971

The Strange Behavior of the New York City Civil Liberties Union

For many decades the New York Civil Liberties Union was admired by many as an organization which fought to preserve the democratic rights of all citizens, especially those whose rights were threatened by "the mob" because of unpopular views and affiliations. Unfortunately, within the last few years, the NYCLU seems to have abandoned its traditional role as defender of democratic procedures and has instead become involved as a combatant in substantive political struggles.

March Mar7, 1971

Our Public Schools Face Their Darkest Hour: A Pattern of Ironies

The announcement by the Board of Education that it will have to cut back $45 million in services for the rest of the school year has shocked the city. The freeze on maintenance and repair alone must inevitably lead to school closings since disrepair creates physical danger. The dismissal of 6500 teachers regularly employed in the schools and another 5000 per diem substitutes who replace absent teachers cannot be viewed as just another governmental economy move.

February Feb28, 1971

A Step Backward by the Chancellor

School Chancellor Harvey Scribner stirred up new controversy when he recently advocated that parents, teachers and students be given a greater voice in the selection of high school principals. The suggestion was made in an after dinner speech on "participatory democracy in the schools" in which the Chancellor made numerous criticisms of the schools, supervisors and teachers.

February Feb21, 1971

When the Urban Coalition was formed in 1967, there was great hope. For the first time, many of us thought, the full strength of the labor movement, the business community and the civil rights organizations would be used to reduce poverty, improve education and fight racial discrimination.

February Feb14, 1971

The Real Issues In The Newark Teachers Strike

The Newark teacher strike continues, though it has disappeared from the headlines. The press reported the start of the strike, the clubbing of a group of teachers by a uniformed band of young men, the arrest of the teacher leaders and the fact that the Mayor, the president of the Board of Education, the teacher union president and the local "community" leader are all black. Beyond that, the public has been told little or nothing about this major struggle.

February Feb7, 1971

The Nixon Revenue-Sharing Plan: No Help To Our Schools

The school fiscal crisis deepens every day. In the New York area, New Rochelle has announced it may have to close schools. The district has run out of money and cannot raise taxes since the legal tax limit has been reached. New York City has imposed a job freeze, and the Board of Education is making cuts to head off a projected $50 million deficit. Newark teachers are on strike following a Board of Education demand that teacher's sign a four-year pact providing no salary increases over the contract period.

January Jan31, 1971

Storm Over Our Board of Examiners

When the school decentralization law was passed, all the parties made many compromises. As a result, Republicans and Democrats, school supervisors, the majority of black and Puerto Rican legislators and the UFT supported the bill. Now, less than a year after its passage, there is a concerted effort to reopen one of the basic compromises in the law: the question of whether the Board of Examiners shall continue to license professional personnel on the basis of civil service-type examinations.