[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23324]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              LEGISLATION ENCOURAGING TEACHER DEVELOPMENT

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                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce 
legislation encouraging teacher development in the schools the most in 
need of quality instruction.
  Five years ago, we passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with 
the goals of closing the achievement gap and improving academic 
performance overall. Schools have found some success during those five 
years, but I believe we need to make a number of changes to NCLB to 
make it more supportive for educators. We need to invest in our 
teachers.
  Madam Speaker, our teachers are the most important element in our 
educational system. It is our teachers who connect with our children 
and inspire them to achieve.
  I am introducing the Support Our Schools With Quality Teaching Act of 
2007 to provide professional development opportunities for our teachers 
in struggling or at-risk schools.
  Specifically, this legislation authorizes federal grant funding for 
schools to invite the National Board for Professional Teaching 
Standards (NBPTS) to implement its Targeted High Need Initiative (THNI) 
in schools in need. The NBPTS trains teachers to become professionally 
certified.
  Under the THNI program, teachers at struggling schools undergo a 
portion of the rigorous curriculum to become a professionally certified 
teacher. The training comes from certified teachers who provide 
mentoring and training.
  Once the program is over, teachers at the school site have the option 
of going on to complete professional certification without cost to them 
when they agree to remain at the high-need school.
  The Support Our Schools With Quality Teaching Act targets funding to 
the schools the most in need of quality teaching, such as those falling 
into Program Improvement under No Child Left Behind or those with high 
student populations from disadvantaged backgrounds.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support professional teacher 
development in the schools that could benefit from the best possible 
instruction.

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