[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17492-17493]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, as the granddaughter of a teacher and 
as a parent, education is one of my passions and priorities. So I rise 
today to commemorate the start of American Education Week, which seeks 
to shine a light on the importance of providing every child in America 
with a quality education so that they are prepared to contribute to our 
Nation's future as adults. Further, American Education Week gives each 
of us an opportunity to celebrate the good things that are happening in 
our schools, rededicate ourselves to help schools improve where 
improvement is needed, and to honor the parents, educators, students, 
and education support professionals who strive to do their best to 
ensure that every child receives a quality education each and every 
day. Each of the next 4 days will celebrate a different partner in the 
education of our children.
  Tomorrow, American Education Week will focus our attention on our 
children's first and most important teachers--their parents. In my own 
State of Alaska, parents' contributions to their children's education 
is so important that we have been called to observe the entire month of 
November as Parental Involvement Month. This observance is intended to 
encourage all Alaskans to recognize the importance of and encourage 
parental involvement in school improvement and student achievement. 
Other States have proclaimed other months to be Parental Involvement 
Month. Why? We know instinctively, the day our children are born, that 
we are responsible for shaping their future. Everything we do 
influences our children and whether or not they grow up to love 
learning. When we read to our children before bedtime, as we teach them 
colors, shapes, right, and wrong, and the value of hard work and 
honesty and as we help them with homework, book reports, and college 
applications, our voices and examples are the strongest influences in 
their lives. If our children see us checking out books for ourselves at 
the library, if we volunteer at their school and participate in making 
their school better, they learn from our example that their education 
is important. If we have high expectations for our children and 
consistently communicate that, our children can fulfill their 
potential. Our children want to rise to our expectations. So I call on 
all of my fellow parents to fulfill your children's expectations of 
you.
  On Wednesday, the focus of American Education Week will shift to 
those too often overlooked individuals who play such important roles in 
our schools--the education support professionals. These are folks who, 
day after day and for little pay and less recognition, keep the cogs 
running smoothly in our schools. They keep our children safe, guide 
them in their behavior, give out hugs, and provide help when things get 
tough during the day. Take a moment, Mr. President, to look back on 
your own school days. Think of the schoolbus driver who made sure 
everyone was seated and reasonably quiet on the way to school or who 
would wait as you ran to catch the bus. Think of the nurse who took 
care of you and called your mom that day you had a fever or the lunch 
lady who made sure you took a helping of vegetables and didn't forget 
your milk. Sometimes, if you forgot your lunch money, she would give 
you lunch anyway if you promised to pay tomorrow. One stern look from 
any of these good people would set your feet back on the right path, 
and you loved them for it, just as many children love their teacher's 
aide who can explain that thorny math problem better than the teacher 
or the specialist who helps them overcome a physical or learning 
challenge. Remember, on Wednesday, to think of these good folks who 
shaped your life, and think good thoughts for those who do so now 
across our great Nation.
  On Thursday, community leaders are invited to come into our Nation's 
classrooms and serve as educators to get a glimpse of what the job is 
really like. We have all been to school, and we have all known many 
teachers. Being a teacher looks easy, but it isn't. Teachers need to 
know how to reach every

[[Page 17493]]

child, excite every child about learning, and help every child fulfill 
his or her potential. The best way to do those things is different for 
every child. Mr. President, we all remember our favorite teachers, and 
if we traded stories they would go like this: I had this teacher once 
who was so hard and expected so much, but he cared about me, and he was 
the best teacher I ever had, or, I had a teacher who really knew what I 
was about and she really helped me learn that year. Boy, was her class 
hard, but I loved that teacher. Teaching is both a skill and an art. It 
is hard work, and it is often thankless work. Too often a classroom 
will include children who come to school unprepared to learn or who are 
dealing with serious problems at home. But every single teacher across 
this Nation wants just one thing--to help every single one of their 
students to learn. On Thursday, think of your favorite teachers and 
thank them and make a wish that every student across America has a 
teacher who is inspiring, skilled, caring, and kind.
  On Friday, American Education Week calls on us to honor a different 
kind of educator. They are too often overlooked, forgotten, or, 
frankly, given a really hard time. I am referring to the substitute 
teacher. Those hardy, brave souls who go into a different classroom 
every day to help educate our children deserve our thanks and 
recognition. Often called before dawn to cover for a teacher who is 
unexpectedly ill, they can teach kindergarten one day and high school 
math the next. The best of them have one common characteristic--they 
can settle a classroom full of strangers down with a glance and inspire 
their temporary students with a word. Their stories are the stuff of 
legend. There was the sub who learned in the nick of time that one of 
her students brought a stink bomb to class because he knew there would 
be a substitute that day. There was the substitute who learned her 
students' goal of the day was to make her cry, and she did, but she was 
back in class with the students after lunch. Then there was the sub 
whose first day on the job was taking 28 7-year-olds on a field trip to 
the zoo. Substitute teachers must be disciplined but caring. They must 
be flexible but adhere to routine. They need thick skin and a great 
sense of humor. I admire them tremendously.
  While American Education Week does not specifically highlight the 
school principal, I am pleased and proud to honor our Nation's 
principals here today as well. Whatever role the principal plays, from 
instructional leader, head of maintenance, chief disciplinarian, 
financial guru, and even part-time recess monitor, the school 
principal's ability to impact the success of the school cannot be 
underestimated. The most important of those roles, however, must always 
be that of instructional leader. Everyone in the school community, from 
students to the superintendent, from parents to future employers, 
relies on the principal to run an effective school in which students 
learn. The skill set for being a principal is not the same as for a 
teacher. A principal must be able to set the agenda for learning for 
not only the students but for teachers and other staff as well. He or 
she is in charge of not only the safety, well-being, and future of the 
children in the school but must also guide and inspire the staff. The 
principal must be a diplomat, bring the community into the school, 
satisfy the taxpayer, and meet the needs of the school. The principal 
must mediate, command, and inspire any number of groups on any given 
day. The best of them are often taken for granted because everything 
just works. So I encourage my colleagues and the Nation to include in 
their appreciative thoughts this week our schools' hard-working, 
multitasking educational leaders--our Nation's principals.
  In closing, as my colleagues here in the Senate consider, applaud, 
and recognize the hard work of the many Americans who work every day to 
make our schools the best, I would also encourage them to do their 
part. As you know, the Senate HELP Committee continues to work toward 
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I look 
forward to continuing and completing that work next year. We know that 
this law's goal is to help ensure that every single child in every 
community across the country has the opportunity and the tools to 
succeed, that is, that every child will fulfill his or her potential 
regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disability, or location. We all want 
that. Regardless of our views on the role or the degree of the role the 
Federal Government should play in our Nation's schools--whether we 
think Federal funding should come with the strings of accountability or 
not and to what degree--I hope we can all agree on one thing, and that 
is the proud tradition of bipartisanship we and our predecessors have 
achieved when it comes to education issues. We may disagree about our 
points of view, but in the end the final product is one most of us have 
been able to support.
  I hope that as we observe American Education Week and in the days and 
months to come our Nation's children as well as the adults can look 
back at us with pride and say we got something good done for the 
country through civility, cooperation, bipartisanship, and a genuine 
love for our Nation.

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