Ryan Votes for Education Initiatives to Improve Teacher Training, Recruit and Retain Highly Qualified Teachers

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT:
July 9, 2003	Kate Dwyer: 202-226-7326

Ryan Votes for Education Initiatives to Improve Teacher Training, Recruit and Retain Highly Qualified Teachers

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin’s First District Congressman Paul Ryan today voted for two education reauthorization bills that work to bring highly qualified teachers into classrooms. Both initiatives – H.R. 438, the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act and H.R. 2211, the Ready to Teach Act – passed the House of Representatives.

“We need to attract more people to teaching – especially in subjects where there’s a shortage – and ensure that they get top-quality training to prepare them for the classroom,” Ryan said. “You cannot overestimate the impact and inspiration of great teachers. This legislation will help pave the way for more great teachers who know their subjects well and are dedicated to sharing this knowledge.”

The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act would attract math, science, and special education teachers to schools where they are needed most – helping address the critical shortage of teachers in these subjects. It accomplishes this by expanding current teacher loan forgiveness under federal law for eligible math, science and special education teachers and reading specialists who serve in Title I schools with more than 40 percent of students from families at or below the poverty level. The legislation would increase the total amount of loan forgiveness possible for highly qualified teachers of these high-need subjects up to a maximum of $17,500.

The Ready to Teach Act would help strengthen and enhance teacher training programs to ensure that prospective teachers get the high quality training they need. This legislation does the following:

Similar to current law, authorizes three types of grants to strengthen and improve teacher training and put highly qualified teachers into classrooms;
Provides flexibility, allowing funds to be used for innovative methods in teacher preparation programs, such as charter colleges of education, which can offer an alternative gateway for teachers to become highly qualified;
Creates a new grant program for the creation of “Centers of Excellence” at minority-serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions, to help increase teacher recruitment at minority-serving institutions and help improve teacher training programs;
Includes accountability provisions that will strengthen reporting measures and hold teacher preparation programs accountable for providing accurate and useful information.

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