U.S. Education Policy

Albert Shanker, President of The American Federation of Teachers, spoke to the 1991 conference of the American Federation of Teachers on U.S. education policies, including the new America 2000 education initiatives advocated by President Bush. In his speech entitled, “Rebuilding Public Education: America’s Foundation for the 21st Century,” Mr. Shanker discussed the national education goals produced by the National Education Goals Panel, which he lauded overall but some of which he described as silly. He also discussed statistics relating to the problems of American education, and criticized initiatives to provide public funds for private schools. He supplied evidence to support his argument that private schools do not necessarily perform better in teaching skills to students than public schools. He advocated raising the standards for high school graduation as well as providing alternative vocational training for students who do not choose to attend college. close