This collection of materials from 1988 highlights Albert Shanker’s influential advocacy for a new kind of school reform rooted in teacher empowerment and educational experimentation. Through his “Where We Stand” columns in the New York Times and public addresses, Shanker proposed that teams of teachers be given the authority to create chartered schools-within-schools, a radical […]
1992: Chartering Spreads Throughout the Nation
A Santa Barbara High School teacher-turned-state legislator, state Senate Education Committee Chair Gary K. Hart, was first introduced to the idea of charter schools by AFT President Al Shanker’s 1988 New York Times column. Hart, a Democrat, was attracted to the idea’s boldness. “I felt that not just simple innovations, but some bold experiments, particularly […]
1991: America’s First Charter Schools Law
The Minnesota Foundation’s fourteenth annual Itasca Seminar brought together tinkers, doers, and policymakers to explore how to improve public education. Among this October 1988 event’s national speakers were Al Shanker and New York’s Sy Fliegel, the architect of East Harlem’s choice-based innovations. More local attendees included the Citizens League’s Ted Kolderie and the vice chair […]
1988: The Launch of an Idea
A Nation at Risk created a new paradigm and a new sense of urgency for improving the quality of America’s schools. Many studies were issued in the years following Risk’s release. Chief among them were: The Nation Responds by the U.S. Department of Education (1984) cataloged state-based initiatives; Time for Results by the National Governors […]
1983: A Nation at Risk: The Report that Changed the Arc of Education
Special commissions on education are common, but none have had the same transformational impact as the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Convened by U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel Bell just seven months into President Ronald Reagan’s first term to “help define the problems afflicting American education and to provide solutions,” prevailing wisdom suggested that […]
Albert Shanker‘s Correspondence to Ray Budde
This document is a series of letters exchanged between Ray Budde, an originator of the charter school concept, and Albert Shanker, then-president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), dated between June and August 1993. Their correspondence centers on the theory and practical implications of chartering all schools in a district—a radical form of decentralization […]
SB 1448: How California Launched Charter School Reform
Summary of the 1992 SB 1448 Third Reading Analysis Senate Bill 1448, authored by Senator Gary K. Hart and supported by education reform advocates, proposed the establishment of charter schools in California. The bill introduced a legal framework allowing teachers and others to petition for the creation of charter schools—public institutions operating independently from many […]
A Nation at Risk (1983)
A Nation at Risk, published by the U.S. National Commission on Excellence in Education, warned that the foundations of the American education system were eroding under mediocrity. The report argued that declining academic performance, diluted curricula, and low expectations were placing the nation’s economic future and global leadership in jeopardy. With dire metaphors—“a rising tide […]
Albert Shanker: National Press Club Speech 1988
In his 1988 speech to the National Press Club, Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers, addressed the shortcomings and challenges in American public education and proposed a bold, second-wave reform agenda. Reflecting on the initial wave of education reforms following A Nation at Risk, Shanker praised improvements such as higher standards and […]
Interview of Buzz Thomas
Jim Goenner sits down with Senator Buzz Thomas to commemorate 30 years of Michigan’s charter school movement. Buzz shares his personal journey from Detroit Waldorf to the state Senate, the origins of the “hire me, fire me” campaign pledge, and his vision for empowering neighborhoods through quality public-school choice. Along the way, he reflects on […]
