Albert Shanker Institute

The Challenge of Precarious Labor in Higher Ed

Fri, 12/23/2016 - 2:00pm
The landscape of America's working world continues to shift, with the number of unstable — and, often, part-time — jobs, low pay and exploitative conditions increasing at a rapid rate. At a daylong Washington, D.C., conference earlier this month, union leaders, policy experts and academics examined the contingent labor force and how to ensure fair working conditions for all. Much of the discussion centered on the issues impacting higher education adjunct faculty and graduate student employees; two groups participating in a "day of action" next month here in Connecticut.
 

Grants to Support Civic Engagement Projects

Thu, 12/01/2016 - 7:30pm
Our national union, along with education and literacy advocacy organizations, earlier this year announced an opportunity for teachers to apply for financial resources for help in resolving community-level problems. When the winning projects in the "Citizen Power Challenge" were announced this fall, a local union member here in Connecticut was among 15 educators who will receive a $500.00 grant.
 

Summit Gives Full Context to Challenge of Teacher Diversity

Tue, 05/17/2016 - 3:30pm
Key public education stakeholders earlier this month convened to address efforts to attract, prepare and retain a teaching workforce that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of our nation's students. The May 6 summit in Washington, D.C. drew participation from a full spectrum of organizations and individuals grappling with the issue and was co-sponsored by our national union.
 

Talking Teacher Tenure

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 4:30pm
The issue of due process for PreK-12 teachers last week ignited a spirited exchange during a “Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education” panel discussion at the Albert Shanker Institute. "Teacher Tenure: An Outmoded 'Job For Life' or Essential Right to Due Process?" was the topic when some of education's major thought leaders gathered at AFT national union headquarters. The January 13 discussion was also live-streamed online to a national audience.
 
Click here to watch the full forum.
 

Better Choices than Suspending Young Students

Thu, 11/12/2015 - 4:30pm
The question of appropriate, effective responses for student misbehavior was the thorny issue addressed last week when AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute brought together a distinguished panel of experts. The goal was a conversation about positive alternatives to suspensions or expulsions in early childhood education (ECE) -- approaches that have been shown to be age-inappropriate and highly ineffective.
 
Click here to watch video of the full forum.
 

Sen. Warren Charts Bold Path to College Affordability

Fri, 06/12/2015 - 12:00pm
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) this week reached beyond recent calls for student loan forgiveness and free community college to urge the nation toward an entirely debt-free education. Warren unveiled her proposal during a forum hosted by AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute noting specific actions to ease the debt she says is drowning young people, and drowning the country's future.
 
Click here to watch Sen. Warren's speech.
 

The Federal Government, Equity and Civil Rights

Thu, 02/26/2015 - 6:00pm
AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute last week sponsored a conversation in Washington, D.C. about the stakes involved in reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). There panelists discussed what it will mean for the millions of students who look to their schools for a fair shake and a chance to reach their dreams.
 
Click here to watch the "ESEA at 50" forum's introduction.
 

Labor at a Crossroads

Tue, 01/20/2015 - 6:00pm
Speaking last week at the Albert Shanker Institute, AFT President Randi Weingarten participated in a wide-ranging discussion on the challenges facing unions, their members and all workers in our nation. She was joined in Washington, D.C. at "The American Labor Movement at a Crossroads" conference by U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez as well as workers and activists, journalists and economists, labor leaders and advocates.
 
Click here to watch the conference's first session.
 
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