Breaking Barriers: A Conversation with Stan Litow and Randi Weingarten

A conversation with

Stan Litow
author of BREAKING BARRIERS,

and

Randi Weingarten
president of the American Federation of Teachers.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Breaking Barriers tells the story of the P TECH school reform effort, providing a clear pathway from school to college to career. September 2021 will be the 10th anniversary of the opening of the first P TECH school in Brooklyn; in that period, it has grown to over 250 schools across a dozen states and 28 countries around the world.

There are several themes woven throughout the book. The first is that every child, given the right support—regardless of income, race or zip code—can succeed. The second is that schools and colleges working together can achieve superlative results. Third is that for school reform efforts to succeed, all key stakeholders need to be engaged, especially school faculty. But the most important theme in the book is that the story of P TECH’s success is best told by the students themselves across cities, states and countries who defied the odds and achieved their dreams.

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

Stan Litow is a board member of the Albert Shanker Institute and a former Deputy Schools Chancellor in NYC. During his time as President of the IBM Foundation, he conceived of and helped launch P TECH.

Randi Weingarten is president of the 1.7 million member American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators. She is also the president of the Albert Shanker Institute.

ORDER THE BOOK

To order a copy of BREAKING BARRIERS, please go HERE.