[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 10, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 30025-30026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10086]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 90 / Wednesday, May 10, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 30025]]

                Proclamation 10572 of May 5, 2023

                
National Teacher Appreciation Day and National 
                Teacher Appreciation Week, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In schools across America, teachers are arriving early 
                to set up classrooms, spending long hours educating 
                students, and staying late to prepare tomorrow's lesson 
                plans. Their devotion to our children embodies the best 
                of America--ready to serve and eager to see others 
                thrive. Today and during this week, we celebrate our 
                Nation's remarkable teachers and early childhood 
                educators, and we recommit to having their backs, just 
                as they have ours.

                In the words of the First Lady, a lifelong educator, 
                teaching is a calling--a way to live out the belief 
                that we can shape our corner of the world, one student 
                at a time. But shaping that world demands a lot. 
                Teaching happens inside and outside the classroom. It 
                often includes spending extra time coaching teams, 
                supporting student clubs, and helping kids catch up 
                when they have fallen behind. It means giving young 
                children the foundational skills for success during a 
                critical period of their development. It also demands 
                being endlessly adaptable, like at the height of the 
                COVID-19 pandemic, when many classes went online and 
                teachers had to find new ways to keep students engaged 
                and learning. When Jill and I recently hosted the 2023 
                National Teacher of the Year ceremony at the White 
                House, we were deeply inspired again by the dedication, 
                creativity, and loving strength of our Nation's 
                educators.

                We owe our teachers and early childhood educators so 
                much. We need to pay them better, improve their working 
                conditions, and focus on recruitment and retention. My 
                Administration's American Rescue Plan supported early 
                childhood programs and helped K-12 schools across the 
                country re-open, hire more educators, boost salaries, 
                increase mental health services, and expand afterschool 
                and summer programs. Thanks to our investments, public 
                schools across the country have added more than 500,000 
                educators and staff. Compared with before the pandemic, 
                the number of school social workers nationwide is up 48 
                percent, the number of school nurses is up 42 percent, 
                and the number of school counselors is up 10 percent.

                My Fiscal Year 2024 Budget calls for $600 billion to 
                provide access to high-quality child care and preschool 
                programs so all families can afford to enroll their 
                children and so early childhood educators have higher 
                wages. It would also increase funding for Title I 
                schools--which serve some of the most disadvantaged 
                communities in our Nation--to give teachers a raise and 
                expand their ranks. And it calls on the Congress to 
                increase salaries for Head Start staff and invest $300 
                million to help address shortages of special education 
                teachers across America.

                My Administration has worked to fix the Public Service 
                Loan Forgiveness program--a key step in meeting our 
                commitment to those who have chosen this vital 
                profession and other areas of public service. To date, 
                we have helped over 450,000 public service employees, 
                including teachers, get nearly $31 billion in student 
                loan forgiveness. In many cases, educators have had 
                their entire student debt wiped out.

[[Page 30026]]

                Supporting our teachers also demands that we keep them 
                and their students safe at school. Last year, I signed 
                the most significant gun safety law in nearly three 
                decades, which includes enhanced background checks for 
                individuals under the age of 21 and funding for States 
                to enact red flag laws that can help keep guns from 
                people who are a danger to themselves and others. This 
                law also authorized more than $1 billion to improve 
                student mental health, enabling schools to hire and 
                train thousands of new mental health professionals. 
                Schools should be places to learn, make friends, and 
                feel the support of a real community. No teacher or 
                student should have to wonder whether the goodbye hug 
                they give their loved ones before going to school one 
                day will be their last.

                The greatness of a nation is measured in part by how it 
                prepares the next generation to succeed. On National 
                Teacher Appreciation Day and during National Teacher 
                Appreciation Week, we honor the remarkable educators 
                entrusted with this responsibility. As I have traveled 
                the country and met so many of our teachers--and seen 
                their passion and dedication--I have never been more 
                confident in the future of America.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 9, 2023, 
                as National Teacher Appreciation Day and May 7 through 
                May 13, 2023, as National Teacher Appreciation Week. I 
                call upon all Americans to recognize the hard work and 
                dedication of our Nation's teachers and to observe this 
                day and this week by supporting teachers through 
                appropriate activities, events, and programs.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand 
                twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-10086
Filed 5-9-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P