Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we know that the quality of teachers and principals are two of the most important in-school factors related to student achievement. If we want to improve our schools, it is essential that teachers, principals, and other educators have a comprehensive system that supports their professional growth and development, starting on day one and continuing throughout their careers. Senator Casey and I introduced the Better Education Support and Training Act to create such a system, and many key provisions of this legislation were included in the Every Student Succeeds Act that passed the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote and was signed into law last week. However, our work is not done. We need to make sure that educator preparation programs help teachers, principals, librarians, and other school leaders develop the skills and knowledge to be profession-ready. There is a looming shortage of fully-prepared teachers. Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that many high poverty schools struggle to fill their teaching positions and rely on a ``rotating cast of substitutes.'' We must do better by our students and our schools. Today, I am reintroducing the Educator Preparation Reform Act and am pleased to be joined by Senator Casey in offering this approach to improving how we prepare teachers, principals, and other educators so that they can be effective right from the start.…”