AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler: Principals Deserve More Than Thanks. They Deserve a Voice

In a National Principals Month message to AFSA members, the nation's top labor leader calls for school leaders to have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their schools, including artificial intelligence, education policy and working conditions.

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Watch AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler's National Principals Month message.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler has a message for America's principals this National Principals Month: Thank you for everything you do. But appreciation alone isn't enough. School leaders deserve the power to make their voices heard.

In a special video message to members of the American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA), AFL-CIO, Shuler recognized the often unseen work principals do every day and emphasized the importance of giving school leaders a meaningful say in decisions that affect their schools, their profession and the students they serve.

“Principals make our schools successful,” Shuler said. “You're solving problems most of us never see, pushing us forward, and creating the conditions where our teachers and students can thrive.”

Speaking on behalf of the AFL-CIO federation's 15 million workers, Shuler thanked principals for their early mornings, late nights and commitment to teachers, school staff, families and children. But she also challenged those who recognize school leaders during October to do something more meaningful throughout the year.

“It's nice when people thank you during National Principals Month,” she said. “But all of us who work know it's much more important that they listen to you, not just this month, but every month because you know what it takes to run a school.”

School leaders must have a voice in decisions about AI

Shuler pointed to the growing use of artificial intelligence in education as an example of why the people working in schools need to be involved in shaping decisions that affect them.

“Everyone is talking about what artificial intelligence will mean for education, but those decisions can't just be made by tech CEOs or handed down from above,” she said.

She called for principals, teachers and other educators to have a voice in determining how AI tools are used, how students are protected and how technology can serve education rather than dictate it.

Shuler also noted that decisions made in the upcoming midterm elections will affect public education, workers' rights and school resources for years to come. Principals, she said, see the consequences of those decisions firsthand.

The difference between having an opinion and having power

At the heart of Shuler's message was the importance of collective bargaining and the role unions play in giving working people a meaningful voice.

“There's a difference between being asked for your opinion and having the power to make your voice count,” she said.

Shuler emphasized that collective bargaining involves more than wages, benefits and working conditions. It also gives workers a real say in how they do their jobs.

“And principals are working people too,” she said.

Although school leaders supervise employees, manage budgets and make difficult decisions, Shuler noted that they also answer to others and face pressures and expectations of their own.

She placed principals alongside teachers, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers and custodians as members of a larger team responsible for keeping schools running.

“Different jobs, different responsibilities, but all connected by the same idea, that the people doing the work deserve a voice in the decisions that shape it,” she said. “That's the power of a union.”

Shuler closed by returning to the message at the center of National Principals Month. School leaders deserve recognition for their contributions, but they also deserve to be heard.

“So this National Principals Month, yes, let's thank our principals. Let's celebrate you. But most importantly, let's listen to you,” she said.

“When principals have a voice, our schools are stronger, our educators are stronger, our students are stronger.”