WELCOME TO SHANKER BLOG

The purpose of this blog is to provide commentary on the issues that we deal with at the Shanker Institute: education, labor, and international democracy.

This is a content-focused blog. You will not find pictures, sound bytes, videos, or superfluous rhetoric. You will find research, discussions of complex topics, and a balanced presentation of ideas. We will try our best to be thorough and thoughtful, but accessible, as was modeled by Al Shanker.

Although most posts will be written by Shanker Institute staff, we will be providing regular posts from our board members and other experts that we know. Reader comments are welcome and encouraged.

We hope you find our first posts (below) useful, and that you check back often for more. Please also take a moment to visit the Shanker Institute website, where you can learn more about our other activities and research.

Eugenia Kemble, Executive Director

Blog Topics

Education

Recent Blog Posts

Publications

The Adequacy and Fairness of State School Finance Systems (Sixth Edition)
A national evaluation of the K-12 school finance systems of all 50 states and D.C., published by researchers from the Albert Shanker Institute, University of Miami, and Rutgers Graduate School of Education.
Reading Reform Across America: A Survey of State Legislation
This report authored by Susan B. Neuman (New York University), Esther Quintero (Albert Shanker Institute), and Kayla Reist (University of Virginia), examines reading-related state legislation enacted between 2019 and 2022.
The Source Code: Revenue Composition and the Adequacy, Equity, and Stability of K-12 School Spending
A national analysis of the relationship between K-12 revenue composition—that is, the percentage of funding that comes from state versus local sources—and the adequacy, equity, and stability of school spending.

Blog Archives

Our Mission

The Albert Shanker Institute, endowed by the American Federation of Teachers and named in honor of its late president, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to three themes - excellence in public education, unions as advocates for quality, and freedom of association in the public life of democracies. With an independent Board of Directors (composed of educators, business representatives, labor leaders, academics, and public policy analysts), its mission is to generate ideas, foster candid exchanges, and promote constructive policy proposals related to these issues.

This blog offers informal commentary on the research, news, and controversies related to the work of the Institute.