National Teacher’s Day

REP. HOLT PRAISES CENTRAL NEW JERSEY TEACHERS ON NATIONAL TEACHERS DAY
Representative Holt Praises Central New Jersey Teachers on National Teachers Day Pledges to Keep Working for Teacher Training, Better Schools

Washington, D.C.- Celebrating National Teachers Day, Representative Rush Holt today praised teachers in central New Jersey for their commitment to the lives of our children and our future. "Ms. Montgomery in 3rd grade was the first teacher to grab my interest in science," said Rep. Holt. "Her excitement about science lead me to a life long discovery of my own."

May 9th was designated National Teachers Day in 1985, but it took 55 years of grassroots lobbying before it became official. The movement began when Mattye Whyte Woodridge, a teacher in Arkansas, felt the need to honor her colleagues with a day to celebrate their accomplishments and began a letter writing campaign to promote her idea. Her first strong supporter was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who, after ten years of perseverance, prevailed in Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day in 1953. The movement spurred subsequent congressional action in the late 70s and early 80s, but only on a one-year basis. That changed in 1985 when May 9th became the official day to mark the occasion.

"It's clear from our students' report cards, New Jersey's public school teachers are doing their job better than just about any other schools in the country," added Holt, a member of the Education and Workforce Committee in Congress. According to the National Education Association, one in five New Jersey students score 1200 or above on their SAT college entrance examinations. New Jersey is second in the nation in the percentage of high schools offering Advanced Placement (AP) courses through which students can earn a college degree. And Eighty-two percent of New Jersey high school graduates plan to continue their education after high school.

"While New Jersey's teachers are doing their jobs, Congress is lagging behind," stated Holt. "We need to reduce class sizes, attract quality people to the teaching profession and insure those professionals have the training they need to teach difficult subjects like science and math."

In Congress, two of the bills Rep. Holt has sponsored to improve our public schools are the Teacher Empowerment Act and the Class Size Reduction Act. The Teacher Empowerment Act provides about $2 billion annually over five years by consolidating the Eisenhower Professional Development Program; Goals 2000 and President Clinton's class-size reduction program. In addition, the bill provides states and local schools more flexibility in how to use these funds while increasing accountability to parents and taxpayers regarding student achievement.

In addition, the Class Size Reduction Act would provide much needed resources to communities to hire new teachers. "Study after study demonstrates that smaller class sizes, especially in the early grades, produce smarter students. Students in smaller classes at the first grade level consistently performed better than their peers on comprehensive tests of basic skills including mathematics, reading, and language arts," added Holt.

"I believe these bills will improve education and will give our teachers the tools they need to lead our children to find the subjects and issues that will lead them on a lifelong discover of their own."