Albert Shanker

“A union of professionals is not a factory union. It is a union that says, we are responsible for the standards of our craft.”

“The only thing that will really change things is the empowerment of teachers.”

“I don’t represent the kids. I represent the teachers.”

“When students are not in school, they are in the community. When schools fail, the community fails.”

“The real crisis in our schools is that we are failing to provide the kind of education that will enable children to live in a democracy.”

“Public education does not exist for the benefit of students or for the benefit of their parents. It exists for the benefit of the social order.”

“It's time to admit that public education is a failed experiment.”

“If you don't have a union, you're living in a dictatorship.”

“There is no justice, no law, and no God in heaven, only a single law which decides and governs all—the law of power.”

“Power is a good thing. It is better than weakness. It is a sin to be weak.”