Patty Murray: “Mr. President, the bill I sent to the desk on behalf of myself, Senator Daschle and many other Members, will add 100,000…”

“Mr. President, the bill I sent to the desk on behalf of myself, Senator Daschle and many other Members, will add 100,000 teachers to our workforce across this country so that we can begin the process of making sure that every student has a well-qualified teacher in a class that has a number of students to whom that teacher can pay attention. Mr. President, this is a beginning step that will make a difference for average children across our country. I think it is essential we address many of the issues I have heard my colleagues talk about. Senator Feinstein spoke for a moment about violence in school. I have had teachers tell me, I have had police officers tell me there are so many kids in our classes today that they don't get individual instructions. They feel anonymous in our neighborhoods and in our classrooms. And, as a result, we are seeing some of the impacts in our schools today, and we are reading about some of the headlines that we are seeing when violence hits our schools. Reducing class size so that children have individual attention when they need it so they don't feel anonymous makes a difference in addressing those issues.”