CONTACT: Michelle Hudgins   (202) 822-7823

July 13, 2006

NEA Responds to College Board Report on Building Better Teachers

WASHINGTON -- The College Board’s Center for Innovative Thought recently released a report outlining a six-point plan to support education and raise salaries for teachers. The plan calls for an increase in teacher salaries by as much as 20 percent and funding for targeted programs to increase the number of qualified math and science teachers.

The report, Teachers and the Uncertain American Future, also calls for improving working conditions, implementing career ladders, closing diversity gaps between teachers and student populations, and addressing the math and science crisis.

The following statement can be attributed to Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association:

“This report from the Center for Innovative Thought has once again focused national attention on the significant challenges faced by our schools as we work to ensure that every child has a qualified and caring public school teacher. Yet these findings and solutions are nothing new—the report presents proposals that have been discussed and debated for decades. 

“Our schools will not improve until we have teachers who have the support, skills and training necessary to do their jobs, as well as salaries for all teachers that reflect the high value the nation places on our students. The current teacher shortage extends beyond the subjects of math and science. The surest way to end the shortage is to pay all teachers a competitive, professional salary that recognizes that teaching is physically, intellectually and emotionally challenging work.

“It's one thing to talk about every child having a qualified teacher and another to make it happen. Respect, funding and support for the teaching profession will put a quality teacher in every classroom and create great public schools for every child.”

The full College Board Center for Innovative Thought report is available online:
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/press/teachers-and-uncertain-american-future.pdf

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.8  million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.