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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 22, 2004

Fact Sheet: America’s Teachers: Fulfilling the Promise of No Child Left Behind

     

High-quality education is fundamental to achieving the American Dream. In 2001, President Bush called for significant reforms to K-12 education through the No Child Left Behind Act to set high standards and produce real results for every child in America. The President signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law to ensure that all students become proficient in reading and math and to close the achievement gap that exists between students of different socio-economic backgrounds. President Bush has requested unprecedented funding increases for education with his overall Fiscal Year 2005 budget which represents a 49% funding increase for elementary and secondary education since FY 2001.

America's great teachers are fulfilling the promise of No Child Left Behind, and regardless of the challenges faced, are improving student achievement across the Nation. In an era of increasing standards and accountability in education, teacher quality and teacher training are more important than ever. Recent studies offer compelling evidence that the quality of a teacher is one of the most critical components of how well students perform.

Great teachers deserve America's thanks, praise, and acknowledgement of success. It is essential, however, to student achievement to have fair data evaluating teacher effectiveness and to reward these effective teachers. Further, the Federal government will partner with states and school districts and encourage investment in high- quality teachers.

Incentives for Effective Teachers

President Bush understands and appreciates the hard work of our Nation's teachers. As part of his new education proposals, President Bush proposed a $500 million Teacher Incentive Fund for states and school districts that choose to reward effective teachers. This Teacher Incentive Fund would provide a $5,000 award to approximately 100,000 teachers across the country.

The President's Teacher Incentive Fund will:

These grants will not only give states and districts a way to reward effective teachers, but states and districts could also use this information to identify particular strengths and weaknesses and provide the appropriate professional development in needed areas.

President Bush's Strong Support for America's Teachers

A well-prepared teacher is vitally important to a child's education, and No Child Left Behind helps ensure that students are taught by highly qualified teachers. NCLB requires states to develop a plan that will ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. The President's FY 2005 budget includes more than $5 billion in funding to support teachers -- an increase of 61% since 2001.

  • President Bush supports teacher protection and understands they can do their jobs better when discipline in the classroom is maintained and a supportive school climate exists.

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