David Price: “as we consider H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, I want to highlight the teacher recruitment and…”

“as we consider H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, I want to highlight the teacher recruitment and retention provisions that have been included in this legislation. In order to keep pace with anticipated teacher retirements and the growing student population, local school districts will need to hire an estimated 2.5 million teachers over the next 10 years. And not just any warm body will do. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, every teacher must be ``highly-qualified'' by the current 2005-2006 school year, a goal I suspect has not yet been achieved. In order to meet these challenges, we must embark on an unprecedented teacher recruitment and retention effort. Fortunately, we already have evidence of what works. In 1986, the North Carolina General Assembly established the Teaching Fellows program, which currently produces 500 highly qualified and enthusiastic new teachers each year. I believe it offers a model for national emulation, and that is why I reintroduced the Teaching Fellows Act as H.R. 1801 early in the current Congress. In the 108th Congress, I was pleased that the bipartisan committee leadership worked with me and former Congressman Cass Ballenger to enhance the teacher recruitment provisions of the Ready to Teach Act in accordance with the Teaching Fellows Act--H.R. 1805, 108th Congress.…”