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

September Sep4, 1988

What's Wrong With This Picture? Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Over the years I've strongly supported the federal government's role in gathering and circulating educational data because we can't make intelligent decisions without knowing how public education is doing.

August Aug28, 1988

Geography Stumps US. Adults Institute Revitalizes Subject

One of the burning issues that millions of Americans will be deciding on in the November elections is whether or not to support candidates who are either for or against the Contras or Sandinistas in - Norway or maybe it's Afghanistan. Or could it be Ruritania?

August Aug14, 1988

Individual vs. Team Learning: Strength in Numbers

At meeting after meeting, I make the argument that poor student performance is in a large part due to our traditional school structures and approaches to education.

August Aug7, 1988

The Missing Story ... School Change is Union Made

During the last five years, the press has missed a very big story -- a revolutionary change in union-school board relationships in a number of school districts.

July Jul31, 1988

Summer in Miami ... Preparing for the 21st Century

Parris Battle left teaching for the private sector because he couldn't support his family and resented "being treated like a peon by the administration," but he missed teaching enough to give it a second shot, this time in Dade County, Fla.

July Jul24, 1988

Of Dollars and Dreams: The Hidden Costs of Education

Last week I had the privilege and honor - together with more than 150 of my colleagues in the American Federation of Teachers - of being a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

July Jul17, 1988

A Charter for Change, Con't. Less TRUTH -- Fewer Consequences

Last week I discussed "charter schools," that is, issuing charters to teams of six or more teachers to set up small, autonomous public schools.

February Feb3, 1985

The Right -- and Wrong -- Ways to Improve Schools Will We Pick a System That's Failed?

All across the country we're busy trying to improve American education. How? By applying the techniques commonly used by American business management --frequent evaluations to find out who is doing a poor job, career ladders and merit pay to reward the productive worker and easier dismissal for the weak and incompetent. But will it work?

January Jan13, 1985

Generations Compete for Society's Resources? We Care for Elderly but Not Children

Is there a war between the generations for society's resources? Samuel H. Preston, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Population Studies Center, thinks that children and the elderly are in direct competition for economic support -- and that for the past 20 years the elderly have been winning.

July Jul17, 1977

Ending Employer Abuses: Labor Law Reform Needed To Assure Workers' Rights

Mr. Shanker' s guest columnist today, a nationally-known leader in the civil rights movement, is President of the A Philip Randoph Institute

July Jul10, 1977

"Rotation" of Board Officers Is Not the Answer: The Schools Need Lasting Leadership

Over the last year the media have featured one or more major stories each month dealing with school problems. One might even call these problems minor scandals.

July Jul3, 1977

New York's Principals Without Schools: Local District Waste Cheats the Children

The management of the New York City public schools is becoming an issue in the political campaign now taking place. Almost all the candidates for public office have had some harsh words for the central Board of Education.

June Jun26, 1977

Comptroller's Report Card on Education: Not Enough School $$ Go to Children

Last Sunday, The New York Times carried a shocking education story on its front page. The story, based on a report by the office of the City Comptroller, compared New York City school expenditures with those of other cities. The report found that while New York City spends more money for the education of each child than other cities, so much of the money is diverted to purposes which are not directly educational that the money actually reaching the students in the form of teaching, guidance and other direct services is less than other city school districts.

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.