Albert Shanker, A Passionate Teacher

Nov 9, 2004 3:52 PM

Thirty-four years ago, as his fledgling union teetered on the brink of a strike, Albert Shanker was the linchpin of a last-minute settlement that laid out the goals that would dominate his thinking for the rest of his life. That 1963 contract committed the UFT and the New York City Board of Education to work together to recruit well-qualified teachers, improve difficult schools, reduce class size and develop a more effective curriculum. Although his thoughts about how to achieve those goals would evolve over the years, the focus remained the same: education for children.

When Shanker, president of the 907,000-member American Federation of Teachers, died Feb. 22 at the age of 68, he left behind a legacy of school reform and belief in the dignity of public school educators that was developed and honed in the classrooms of New York City.

Shanker, UFT president from 1964 to 1986, was an articulate and fearless labor leader who was twice jailed for violating the state law that barred strikes by public employees. The first time was during the 1967 strike over smaller classes and more money for education. The second came after the 1968 Ocean Hill-Brownsville strike, which centered on a local school board's attempt to dismiss teachers without due process.

As the power of New York City's teachers union increased under his stewardship, so did Shanker's influence in other crucial arenas. During the city's fiscal crisis in 1975, which triggered a five-day strike over large class sizes, he was widely credited with helping save New York from bankruptcy. He agreed to ask the Teachers' Retirement System to bail out the city by buying $150 million of untested Municipal Assistance Corporation bonds — an investment that turned out to provide a tidy profit for the TRS.