Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

PFT Leader Sherman Shrager Passes Away

Sherman Shrager, a key leader in the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, passed away today, August 21, 2006. He was 56 at the time of his death.

Mr. Shrager served as the PFT Vice-President for Middle Schools and the PFT's Liaison to the Pittsburgh school district's Department of Human Resources. He served on the PFT's Executive Board as an elected Middle School Representative from 1981-2001 and as Vice-President for Middle Schools from 2002. Mr. Shrager served on various PFT and District committees, including PFT negotiating teams and the Professionalism and Education Partnership steering committee, which he chaired at the time of his death.

Mr. Shrager was widely respected for his expertise in PFT and school district history and governance. His knowledge was encyclopedic regarding PFT collective bargaining agreements; issues of school district policy, funding, and staffing; and state and national educational issues.

In addition to his responsibilities in Pittsburgh, Mr. Shrager also held leadership positions in teacher unionism and education at the state and national levels. He served as a Vice-President for Pittsburgh on the AFT Pennsylvania Executive Council and had been a member of the PA State Professional Standards and Practices Commission. Mr. Shrager also served as the PFT's representative to the national Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN), a collegial body of Union officials from 25 AFT and NEA locals which focuses on current issues in educational/union reform and develops action plans regarding those matters.

Mr. Shrager taught Reading and Social Studies at Greenway Middle School for 23 years and served as Team Leader and Instructional Teacher Leader for 21 years. An excellent teacher, he was a Clinical Resident Teacher when the Greenway School provided district-wide professional development as a Teacher Center from 1988-1991. He also served as the PFT Building Representative at Greenway for almost twenty years.

Mr. Shrager served as Vice-Chair of the Pittsburgh Teachers Credit Union and had been a member of the Credit Union’s Board of Directors for more than fifteen years.

Outside of education, Mr. Shrager was President of the Pittsburgh Council of B'nai B'rith in 1985-86 and served as District President (New Jersey, Delaware, West VA and PA) in 1992-93. He was also President of the Jewish University Center, serving the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University from 1992-1995. He attended missions for Israel Bonds in Israel and B'nai B’rith in Austria.

In the 1980’s and 90’s, Mr. Shrager was very active in Cult Awareness education, delivering numerous lectures and appearing on several radio programs. He was a guest on the Sally Jesse Raphael television program, where he debated the Hare Krishna Swami from West Virginia.

He received the national Label Katz leadership award from B'nai B'rith in 1985 and was recognized locally in 1986 as Pittsburgh B'nai B'rith Man of The Year. He also received a joint leadership award from B'nai B'rith and Israel Bonds in 1996.

A graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School and Duquesne University, Mr. Shrager also received a Masters as a Reading Specialist from Duquesne and a Masters in Educational Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Shrager is survived by his mother Miriam Shrager of Pittsburgh, and his sister Naomi Shrager Thibault and niece Jennifer Sherman of Phoenix, Arizona. He was the grandson of the late Rachel Leah and Jacob Fine of Pittsburgh.

Visitation will be held at the Ralph Schugar Funeral Chapel at 5509 Centre Avenue at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, August 23, 2006, and the service will be at 4:00 PM. Internment will be at the Shaare Torah Cemetery.

Mr. Shrager’s family requests that contributions be made to the Sherman Shrager Education Fund, c/o the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, 10 South 19th Street, Pittsburgh PA 15203.