Urban Group Assails AFT Policy Campaign

By Peter Schmidt

The American Federation of Teachers' ambitious new campaign for safe, orderly schools and high academic standards has run into fierce opposition from the nation's big-city school districts.

The Council of the Great City Schools, which includes 47 of the nation's largest urban districts, last week sent the AFT's president, Albert Shanker, a letter denouncing the philosophy he has espoused in promoting the union's campaign.

Mr. Shanker angered members of the council late last month with a speech he delivered at their annual fall conference in Oklahoma City. (See related story, this page.) In his remarks, Mr. Shanker was critical of efforts to place students of widely varying abilities in the same classrooms and called for the removal of disruptive...