Connie Mack: “This bill will enable working families to keep more of what they earn, and it includes a number of other important…”

“This bill will enable working families to keep more of what they earn, and it includes a number of other important education provisions. My focus during this debate has been on providing every classroom in America with a competent, caring, and qualified teacher. In my opinion, teachers make all the difference in the learning process. America's classrooms are staffed with many dedicated, knowledgeable, and hard-working teachers. Nevertheless, in classrooms all over America, teachers are being assigned to teach classes for which they have no formal training. Consider these statistics: Twenty percent of English classes were taught by teachers who did not have at least a minor in English literature, communications, speech, journalism, English education, or reading education. That is one out of five. Twenty-five percent of mathematics classes were taught by teachers without at least a minor in mathematics or mathematics education. That is one out of four.”