Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the President's 2003 budget for programs administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education that improve teacher quality and strengthen the teaching profession.

This is the age of high standards and accountability in education. All students deserve a high-quality education, and all taxpayers deserve to know how well their investment in public education is paying off. In this new environment, more and more is being expected of our teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Administration's budget proposals address these challenges in two major ways: first, by providing assistance to States as they strive to improve teacher quality, and, second, by providing States with the tools for enhancing the teaching profession.

Why Improve Teacher Quality?

We have compelling evidence that confirms what parents have always known—the quality of a teacher is a critical component of how well students achieve. Studies in Tennessee and Texas found that students who had effective teachers had greater achievement gains than those who had ineffective teachers. In the Tennessee study, students with highly effective teachers for three years in a row scored 50 percentage points higher on a test of math skills than those who had ineffective teachers.

All children deserve highly qualified teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act calls for States to have a highly qualified teacher in every public school classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. All new teachers will have to be licensed by the State, hold at least a bachelor's degree, and pass a rigorous State test on subject knowledge and teaching skills. Reaching this goal will require reform of traditional teacher training, which is usually conducted in colleges of education, as well as the innovative expansion of alternative routes to teacher licensure. It will also require more effective in-service training and professional development for teachers currently in the classroom.

The Challenges

As a Nation, we face many challenges in improving teacher quality and enhancing the teaching profession. First, many new teachers do not feel ready for the challenges of today's classrooms. Fewer than 30 percent feel "very well prepared" to implement curriculum and performance standards, and less than 20 percent feel prepared to meet the needs of diverse students, including those with limited English proficiency.

Second, new teachers are often left to "sink or swim," not receiving the support and mentoring that they need. Not surprisingly, about 22 percent of new public school teachers leave the profession in the first three years.

Third, only 35 States require teachers to pass a test of subject-area knowledge, and often the passing scores are set so low that a candidate can pass the test by getting fewer than half of the test items correct. Low expectations such as these do not address the realities of higher academic standards. We know that there is a connection between a teacher's subject-matter preparation and student academic achievement. Teachers with strong content area preparation have both the knowledge and the confidence to help their students meet the challenges of new and more rigorous standards.

Fourth, over the next decade, school districts will need to hire approximately 2.2 million additional teachers. Where are these teachers going to come from? And how can we address this issue of quantity without diluting teacher quality? States and educational organizations have been creative in pursuing different ways to recruit well-qualified individuals into the field of teaching. New strategies have aimed at high-performing undergraduate students by recruiting them to teach in high-need schools once they complete their baccalaureate degree. Other approaches include providing alternative routes to licensure so that mid-career professionals who want to enter the classroom can do so through innovative programs that establish creative pathways into teaching.

Finally, as we expect more and more of teachers, we have an obligation to ensure that they are treated like the dedicated professionals they are. It is most unfortunate that fewer than 12 percent of public school teachers report that they are "very satisfied" with the level of esteem in which society holds the teaching profession. For too long, teachers have not been afforded the professional respect they deserve.

Addressing the Challenges of Improving Teacher Quality

The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several programs to help States and school districts address these challenges. The largest of these is the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants program, which provides support for States and school districts to develop and support a high-quality teaching force through activities that are grounded in scientifically based research. The program gives States and school districts a flexible source of funding with which to meet their particular needs in strengthening the skills and knowledge of teachers and administrators to enable them to improve student achievement in the core academic subjects. For example, school districts may choose to use funds to provide incentives for highly qualified teachers, lower class sizes by hiring additional teachers, and improve teacher training. In return for this flexibility, school districts are required to demonstrate annual progress in ensuring that all teachers teaching in core academic subjects within the State are highly qualified. The Administration is requesting $2.85 billion for this program in fiscal year 2003.

The Transition to Teaching program, for which the Administration is requesting $39.4 million, a $4.4 million increase over the 2002 appropriation, is intended to help mitigate the shortage of qualified licensed or certified teachers in many of our Nation's schools. The program provides grants to help support efforts to recruit, train, and place talented individuals into teaching positions and to support them during their first years in the classroom. In particular, the program focuses on encouraging two groups of nontraditional teaching candidates to become classroom teachers—(1) mid-career professionals with substantial career experience, including highly qualified paraprofessionals; and (2) recent college graduates.

Under the program, grantees must develop and implement comprehensive approaches to train, place, and support teacher candidates that they have recruited into the program, including ensuring that the program meets relevant State certification or licensing requirements if the program provides an alternative route to teacher certification. Grantees are expected to ensure that program participants are placed in high-need schools in high-need school districts.

Troops-to-Teachers supports the highly successful work of the Department of Defense's Troops-to-Teachers program. The Troops-to-Teachers program was established by DoD in 1994 to help improve public school education by providing funds to recruit, prepare, and support the entry of former members of the military services into high-poverty schools.

Under this program, the Secretary of Education transfers program funds to the Department of Defense to provide assistance to eligible members of the armed forces so that they can obtain certification or licensing as elementary school teachers, secondary school teachers, or vocational/technical teachers and become highly qualified teachers by demonstrating competency in each of the subjects they teach. In addition, the program helps these individuals find employment in high-need school districts or charter schools. The budget request includes $20 million for the Troops-to-Teachers program in fiscal year 2003, an increase of $2 million above the fiscal year 2002 appropriation.

The Mathematics and Science Partnerships program supports State and local efforts to improve students' academic achievement in mathematics and science by promoting strong teaching skills for elementary and secondary school teachers, including integrating teaching methods based on scientifically based research and technology into the curriculum. Grantees may also use program funds to develop more rigorous mathematics and science curricula that are aligned with challenging State and local content standards; establish distance learning programs for mathematics and science teachers; and recruit mathematics, science, and engineering majors into the teaching profession through the use of signing and performance incentives, stipends, and scholarships. Professional development may include summer workshops or institutes and programs that bring mathematics and science teachers into contact with working scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in order to expand teachers' subject matter knowledge of mathematics and science. The Administration is requesting $12.5 million for this program in 2003.

In addition to these programs, there are other elementary and secondary education programs that support improvements in teacher quality, including Early Childhood Educator Professional Development ($15 million), Teaching of Traditional American History ($50 million), Early Reading First ($75 million), and Reading First State Grants ($1 billion). States and school districts may also use funds under the State Grants for Innovative Programs and Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies programs to improve teacher quality and enhance the teaching profession. In fact, for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 the NCLB Act requires school districts to use between 5 and 10 percent of their Title I Grants to LEAs allocations to help meet the goal of having a highly qualified teacher in every public school classroom by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. For 2003, this requirement will translate into at least $568 million for professional development in Title I schools. For 2004 and beyond, LEAs must spend at least 5 percent of their Title I dollars for this purpose.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. My colleagues and I would be happy to respond to any questions that you may have.

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