End to Education Undergraduate Degrees Urged

American Federation of Teachers delegates on Sunday overwhelmingly called for abolishing undergraduate degrees in education and raising starting salaries for teachers in fields where shortages exist.

The 2,600 delegates ignored dissidents’ charges that they were sacrificing union solidarity and ratified a report titled “The Revolution That Is Overdue,” drafted by union President Albert Shanker’s top lieutenants.

The delegates roared their approval after Shanker, in a dramatic floor speech, implored them to “send the people of this country a message that the American Federation of Teachers will still (take) risks to bring about improvements for our profession and for our schools.”

Warn on Teacher Shortage

The report warned that without radical changes, the nation would face a massive teacher shortage.

It called for more power and self-regulation by teachers, abolishing undergraduate degrees in education and shifting professional preparation to graduate school.

It also would open an alternative route into the profession through internships for liberal arts majors.

Higher Pay for Some

The wage proposal, which calls for putting teachers at salaries sharply higher than others in subjects where instructors have been in short supply, runs contrary to AFT policy.

It was part of a recent Carnegie Task Force on Education and the Economy report calling for an overhaul of the teaching profession. The AFT also approved a separate plank hailing the Carnegie report.

The resolution acknowledged that the Carnegie proposals included “a number of ideas long opposed by the AFT” but said that without modifying its policies the union would “continue to encourage and offer support to state and local affiliates that wish to explore and experiment with these new directions.”

The meeting of the AFT, the nation’s second largest teachers organization with 630,000 members, ends Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the nation’s largest teachers group, the National Education Assn., concluded its annual meeting Sunday in Louisville, Ky., passing a resolution urging high schools to establish clinics that would provide birth control information to students.

The resolution was approved after an hour of sometimes heated debate on a narrow voice vote by the NEA’s 8,000 delegates, representing 1.8 million members.

Information Programs

The resolution encourages school districts to offer students information about birth control methods and intensive pregnancy counseling.

The resolution said the clinics should not dispense birth control pills or other devices.

“We need to stop and face reality,” said Leona Mounds, a first-grade teacher from Anchorage, Alaska. “We need to help these children and make them knowl-edgeable.”

The original resolution would have allowed schools to distribute birth control pills and other devices, but the language was removed after strong opposition.

“Many students already are counseled to use birth control methods,” Mounds said. “But they don’t follow through. If we made the contraceptives easier to get they would be more likely to use them.”