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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2001

NEWS RELEASE

Teacher of the Year Challenges Fellow Educators

"Everyone in the profession must take responsibility for the profession"

Los Angeles, CA - National Teacher of the Year Michele Forman issued a challenge to the more than nine-thousand educators from across the nation assembled at NEA's Representative Assembly in Los Angeles today. "Everyone in our profession must take responsibility for the profession," said Forman.

Forman, a high school teacher from Middlebury, VT urged her colleagues to speak out against the practice of granting waivers for teaching licenses, citing a long list of other professions that prohibit the practice. Forman said hairdressers, doctors, engineers, veterinarians, and engineers all require full certification and licensure. "How can we hope to meet higher standards for student learning if we do not help teachers themselves meet high standards?"

"We must educate others to understand that teaching is a complex, demanding, and rewarding profession," said Forman. "We must insist that each child, each young person deserves a caring, competent, qualified teacher. Every child deserves a fully certified, licensed teacher. No child's education should be in the hands of someone ill-equipped to meet that child's needs."

Forman said teachers are leaders in and out of the classroom and urged more educators to take action in their communities to create a stronger support network for students. "As teachers, we are joined in the work, in the struggle for something bigger than ourselves. We are the advocates for each child, for every young person, as we work to help them - one child at a time, fulfill their potential." One of Forman's students said, "I think she cares more about the students than about the grades."

Fifty years ago, President Harry Truman started a tradition of recognizing the educator chosen to be the National Teacher of the Year. NEA President Bob Chase commended Forman for her tireless work on behalf of students and education. "Michele believes that several factors are involved in providing a student with a quality education," said Chase. "She knows that a healthy student is an achieving student."

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.