Russ Feingold: “I am today introducing the Teachers at the Table Act of 2007. This bill is the Senate companion to legislation…”

“I am today introducing the Teachers at the Table Act of 2007. This bill is the Senate companion to legislation introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year by Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York and Representative Lee Terry of Nebraska. I am pleased this legislation is cosponsored by my colleagues, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. This legislation would create a Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee to advise Congress and the Department of Education on the impact of No Child Left Behind, NCLB, on students, their families, and the classroom learning environment. The teachers serving on this Committee would be chosen from past or present state or national Teachers of the Year and would be competitively selected by the Secretary of Education and the majority and minority leaders of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Every year I travel to each of Wisconsin's 72 counties to hold a listening session to listen to Wisconsinites concerns and answer their questions. Since NCLB was enacted in early 2002, education has rated as one of the top issues brought up at my listening sessions. I have received feedback from constituents about the noble intentions of NCLB, but I have also heard about the multitude of implementation problems with the law's provisions.”