Mike Levin: “The demands that are being made on teachers, as a matter of fact, are what is behind my amendment, which is to provide a…”

“The demands that are being made on teachers, as a matter of fact, are what is behind my amendment, which is to provide a credit to teachers who now have all these new technologies that are brought into the schools to help those teachers go back to learn how to utilize those technologies, should they choose to do so. These demands are huge. We are putting a fortune into computers, software and connectors to Internet and everything else, but we are only putting pennies into the professional development of our teachers. This amendment would provide a 50 percent tax credit for the cost when those teachers go back for that training. It pays for it by not allowing the use of this new IRA in the K through 12 area because it is so skewed against public schools. That is the main point here. It keeps the IRA increase for college education, and it keeps other parts of this bill. But what it says is that withdrawals will not be permitted in the K through 12 grades because of the manner in which most of the money goes to private-school families, although they represent only 10 percent of the families with children in schools.”