Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, we rely on our public schools to prepare the next generation for success as citizens, workers, and innovators. We have asked educators to raise the bar and educate all students to internationally competitive college and career-ready standards. To achieve these goals, we need to establish a comprehensive system of educator preparation and support that ensures that new educators are profession-ready and that provides for their growth and development over the course of their careers.

Today, I am pleased to join Senator Casey in introducing the Better Education Support and Training, BEST Act to reform induction, professional development, and systems for professional growth and improvement for teachers, librarians, and principals currently on the job, updating the Effective Teaching and Leading Act that I introduced last Congress. The BEST Act will strengthen Title II, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to ensure that formula grant funds support the goal of all students having equitable access to profession-ready and effective educators. The BEST Act will ensure that all educators on the instructional team--teachers, principals, counselors, librarians, and other specialized instructional support personnel--collaborate and are prepared and supported in helping students achieve and grow. It will offer induction and mentoring programs for new educators; personalized, job-embedded professional development, and career pathways and leadership roles for teachers and other educators.

In the coming weeks, I will be reintroducing legislation to address the front end of the educator pipeline--the Educator Preparation Reform Act. This legislation builds on the success of the Teacher Quality Partnership Program, which I helped author in the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Together, these two bills will modernize Federal policy for education preparation and development to create a continuum of support for professional educators throughout their careers. They provide a blueprint for reauthorizing Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title II of the Higher Education Act. Over the years, I have been fortunate to work with many stakeholders on these bills, including the Coalition for Teaching Quality, representing over 100 national, State, and local organizations.

I look forward to working to incorporate these bills into the upcoming reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Higher Education Act, and I urge our colleagues to join in this effort.

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