Philosopher Or King? the Ideas and Strategy of Legendary AFT Leader Albert Shanker. (Feature)‪.‬

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL VOICES IN AMERICAN EDUCATION during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century were surely Horace Mann and John Dewey, respectively. But who ranks as the most consequential figure of the past 50 years? One of the many leaders who claimed the mantle of "education president"? A particularly influential U.S. secretary of education? A renowned education theorist? A parhbreaking state education official or schools superintendent? Consider, instead, the late Albert Shanker--the president of a teacher union, of all things, and not even the largest one at that. Writing in the New Republic, Sara Mosle called Shanker, the legendary head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) from 1974 to 1997, "our Dewey, the most important American educator in half a century." The notion is astonishing-akin to claiming that the president of the United Auto Workers was responsible for the most important developments in the American automobile industry-yet well justified.