For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2002
President Emphasizes Teacher Quality in Radio Address
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This coming
week, I will be highlighting measures to help America's public schools
carry out the education reforms we enacted in Washington earlier this
year. Our education reforms require accountability and
results, and give schools greater resources to achieve them.
Parents will have more information about the performance of their
local schools and more say in how their children are
educated. The No Child Left Behind Act is historic, ushering
in a new era of accountability and education, but a lot of hard work is
still ahead.
The effectiveness of all education reform eventually comes down to
a good teacher in a classroom. And America's teachers are
eager to put higher standards into action and we must give them the
tools to succeed. My administration has set a great goal for our
public schools: a quality teacher in every classroom.
We can achieve this in two ways: by attracting capable
men and women into the teaching profession, and providing teachers the
training and support they deserve. Over the next decade,
America will need more than 2 million new teachers. The
budget I have signed into law for 2002 includes nearly $3 billion for
teacher training, recruiting and hiring, an increase of more than 35
percent over the last year's budget.
We proposed to expand programs that recruit new math, science and
special education teachers by forgiving part of their college loans in
exchange for a commitment to teach in poor neighborhoods for at least
five years. We should open up the teaching profession,
allowing people who have achieved in other fields -- including veterans
and parents with grown children -- to share their learning and
experience. And we must upgrade the teaching colleges, where
many teachers receive their training, the topic of a conference that
will be hosted by our First Lady on Tuesday.
Today, only 36 percent of teachers themselves say they feel very
well prepared for their jobs, so we'll focus on teacher training
efforts where the need is greatest, in early childhood education,
special education, math, science and reading
instruction. Through my administration's Reading First
program, we are placing a new emphasis on the most basic of skills and
many of our teachers will need training in the best and proven methods
of reading instruction.
Because learning only takes place in an atmosphere of order, we
want our teachers to be in control of their classrooms. So
we're protecting teachers from the threat of frivolous lawsuits that
often result from enforcing reasonable discipline. Because
committed teachers often buy school supplies for their students out of
their own pockets, the budget I have proposed includes a tax deduction
to cover some of those costs.
And because I strongly believe in local control of education, I'll
implement new flexibility for school districts. They'll be
able to use federal funds where the local need is greatest to reduce
class sizes or improve teacher training or to increase teacher pay.
In our new era of education reform we're asking a lot of our
teachers, and we owe them something in return. We must treat
them as the professionals they are. We must give them our
respect and support. Teachers are among the most important people in
our children's lives and a good teacher can literally make a lifelong
difference.
I have confidence in the education reforms we enacted because I
have confidence in the teachers who will carry them out.
Thank you for listening.
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