Elizabeth McPike et al., Albert Shanker Institute
September 2003
The Albert Shanker Institute is the source of this astute and forceful manifesto on how and why to prepare young Americans (and others) to be effective, committed citizens of a democracy. It updates the 1987 "Education for Democracy: A Statement of Principles," which was jointly developed by the American Federation of Teachers, Freedom House, and our own organizational ancestor, the Educational Excellence Network. Lots of prominent folks have signed the new manifesto, which effectively decimates moral relativism and feel-good history and calls for a strong, democracy-centered curriculum in history, civics, and other key fields. Educators, we hope, will have difficulty ignoring it. And we welcome the kinship between this eloquent statement - characteristic of the Shanker Institute's work in this field and the AFT's long record of good sense in matters curricular - and our own recent efforts to reclaim the social studies. (See http://www.edexcellence.net/template/page.cfm?id=252.) You can find the report at http://www.shankerinstitute.org/Downloads/EfD-draft.pdf.
